ST..JOHNS (CBC) - The U.S. military subjected a former driver for Osama bin Laden to a sleep-deprivation program at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2003, his lawyers said Monday.

The alleged abuse spanned 50 days when Salim Ahmed Hamdan was making statements to be used against him at a war crimes trial scheduled to start next week, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, his Pentagon-appointed defence lawyer.

Mizer said the abuse of his client by a program known as "Operation Sandman" should be grounds for dismissing the charges.

He also indicated that he'll seek sanctions against prosecutors for not providing evidence of the abuse until Saturday. The military tribunal had set a December deadline to provide the prison records.

Michael Berrigan, deputy chief military defence counsel for the tribunals, said it was "outrageous" for prosecutors to wait so long before delivering the evidence.

"It's about as far from a fair proceedings as you can get," he said.

There was no immediate response from prosecutors.

A recent report by the office of the Justice Department's inspector general said "Operation Sandman" involved frequently rousting prisoners and moving them between cells to keep them off balance.

Lawyers for two other detainees facing war-crimes charges - Mohammed Jawad and Canadian Omar Khadr - have alleged in recent months that the military used sleep-deprivation to punish or soften up their clients.

The judge hearing the case, Navy Capt. Keith Allred, also ruled on Monday that the government must allow the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and other "high-value" prisoners to provide testimony at Hamdan's trial.

Prosecutors had opposed allowing the high-value prisoners to testify, saying the men could potentially reveal classified information such as details about their treatment while held at secret CIA prisons overseas.

But the judge said the government must find a way to provide the testimony, since it is relevant to the case.

With files from the Associated Press

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