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September 18, 2006

U.S. Military Detains AP Photographer Without Filing Charges

It appears that detaining individuals without a hearing isn't just for suspected terrorists anymore (via Wired News):


The U.S. military in Iraq has imprisoned an Associated Press photographer for five months, accusing him of being a security threat but never filing charges or permitting a public hearing.

Military officials said Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi citizen, was being held for "imperative reasons of security" under United Nations resolutions. AP executives said the news cooperative's review of Hussein's work did not find anything to indicate inappropriate contact with insurgents, and any evidence against him should be brought to the Iraqi criminal justice system.

The U.S. military uses guilt by association (via Wired News):

The military said Hussein was captured with two insurgents, including Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. "He has close relationships with persons known to be responsible for kidnappings, smuggling, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and other attacks on coalition forces," according to a May 7 e-mail from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jack Gardner, who oversees all coalition detainees in Iraq.

While the U.S. military thinks Bilal Hussein is in league with the insurgents in Iraq, Hussein was trying to be a journalist (via Wired News):


Hussein proclaims his innocence, according to his Iraqi lawyer, Badie Arief Izzat, and believes he has been unfairly targeted because his photos from Ramadi and Fallujah were deemed unwelcome by the coalition forces.

That Hussein was captured at the same time as insurgents doesn't make him one of them, said Kathleen Carroll, AP's executive editor. "Journalists have always had relationships with people that others might find unsavory," she said. "We're not in this to choose sides, we're to report what's going on from all sides."

Posted by at September 18, 2006 02:02 PM

Reader Comments:

And to think I was actually going to go for a week without hearing a new case of abusive government. Ah, I don't know if I should laugh or cry right now.

Posted by: Jeremy at September 18, 2006 04:21 PM

http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/site/modules/news/article.php?storyid=589

Posted by: Not impress at September 19, 2006 11:08 AM

Please. Hussein was been suspected of working with insurgents for quite some time, and was arrested while working with a group of insurgents. No 'shadowy government of oppression' here, just a man caught breaking the law.

Or do you think being a photographer absolves him of all possible guilt?

Kneejerk reactionaries, you people.

Posted by: Average_Joe at September 19, 2006 06:06 PM

If he broke the law, then charge him and lets have a trial. Its not the arrest that bothers me, its the lack of charges.

Posted by: Keith at September 19, 2006 09:02 PM
 


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