INDIANAPOLIS — An American-born Taliban fighter imprisoned in Indiana will try to convince a federal judge that his religious freedom trumps security concerns.

John Walker Lindh was expected to testify today in Indianapolis during the first day of the trial over prayer policies in a tightly restricted prison unit where he and other high-risk inmates have severely limited contact with the outside world.

Lindh, 31 — a Muslim convert charged with supporting terrorists after he was captured by US troops in Afghanistan in 2001, and who later pleaded guilty to lesser charges — claims his religious rights are being violated because the prison in Terre Haute deprives him of daily group prayer.