recent assessment, the cell in which the prisoners lived was described as "posh". Amnesty and refusal to leave prison On April 10, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Idema would soon be released from prison and then sent back to the United States, and that the Afghan government had granted him amnesty. However, under the amnesty that commuted his sentence he was effectively released on April 4. Idema refused to leave the prison, first demanding that his passport, personal effects, and documents that he claimed proves his official connection with the U.S. government, be returned to him. According to him, he was owed compensation for $500,000 worth of equipment, mostly computers, weapons, and cameras, that was confiscated by the Afghan government when he was arrested. Having obtained through the offices of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul a new passport and money to apply for a visa to India, Idema insisted that his belongings be returned and that a pet dog previously owned by Bennett be allowed to travel with him. Idema also filed another lawsuit against the U.S. government, reaffirming allegations initially made in 2005 that he and his associates had been illegally imprisoned, except now with the additional claim that he had been tortured. According to U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, "Petitioners allege that United States officials ordered their arrest, ordered their torture, stole exculpatory evidence during their trial and appeal, exerted undue influence over Afghan judges, and either directly or indirectly ordered judges who found petitioners innocent not to release petitioners from prison." This was a shift from the earlier strategy on the part of Idema to exonerate himself on the basis that he was acting on a Pentagon-approved mission. Instead the focus was on the trial itself, specifically whether or not due process was observed, with the added claim of being a torture victim. In both instances Idema accused the U.S. government of deliberately withholding information. Judge Sullivan subsequently ordered the FBI and the Department of State to answer the allegations. Attorneys from the United States Department of Justice requested the case be dismissed on the grounds that Idema's sentence had been commuted. Idema's lawyer said the government coordinated Idema's amnesty to avoid having to respond to allegations of misconduct. Idema's allegations of withheld evidence were originally made during his Afghan trial in 2004. When the men were arrested in early July, the tapes were confiscated