Lodi Trial Underway For Suspected Terrorist’s Father

Sacramento — Opening statement were made Tuesday in the trial of a Lodi man accused of lying about his son´s suspected attendance at an al-Qaida training camp.

Prosecutors played parts of a videotaped interrogation of Umer Hayat in which the 48-year-old confesses to knowing that his son attended the camp in Pakistan after initially telling investigators he knew nothing about it.

The defense says Hayat was bullied into the confession. He´s pleaded innocent to two counts of making false statements to the FBI. He faces 16 years in prison if convicted.

The trial of his 23-year-old son, Hamid, started last month, but testimony has been temporarily halted while the elder Hayat´s trial gets underway. Hamid Hayat faces up to 39 years in prison if convicted of lying to the FBI and supporting terrorists.