WASHINGTON, Sept 10: A Pakistani citizen, detained initially as a suspected terrorist but later charged with immigration violations, can face up to 55 years in prison if convicted.

The hearing for Kamran Akhtar, 35, begins on Friday in Mecklenburg County Jail, North Carolina. In an earlier hearing at a US federal court, he pleaded not guilty to all six charges the prosecution had brought against him. He came to the court in shackles although prosecutors had not charged him with any terrorism-related offence.

Akhtar has been jailed since July 20 when police in Charlotte, North Carolina, arrested him for videotaping the city's skyline, including the Bank of America building and Charlotte's FBI offices.