Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
April 10, 2008 By Richard Perez-Pena
An Iraqi judicial panel has ruled that an Associated Press photographer should be set free, two years after the United States military imprisoned him on terrorism charges, The A.P. said Wednesday.
But the military declined to say whether it would release the photographer, Bilal Hussein, and he might still face a separate criminal charge.
The judicial panel did not pass judgment on the guilt or innocence of Mr. Hussein, 36, but ruled that he was covered by an Iraqi amnesty law, Associated Press officials said. The organization declined to show a reporter a translation of the ruling.
American forces detained Mr. Hussein on April 12, 2006, in Ramadi, where they were fighting insurgents, but his case did not go to court until this past December. The American military charged him with conspiring with insurgents to photograph an explosives attack on United States and Iraqi forces, and offering to provide a counterfeit identification card to a sniper with the insurgents.
Associated Press executives maintain that the charges are false. David Tomlin, associate general counsel of the news organization, said of the evidence against Mr. Hussein, “Some of it is unreliable, some of it is wrong, and some of it does not mean what the military purports it to mean.”
Lt. Patrick Evans of the Navy, a spokesman for the American-led multinational force in Iraq, said he did not know if the military would respond to the ruling.
“We’re aware of the reports of the Iraqis’ decision to issue an amnesty in this case, but we have not heard directly from the Iraqis,” he said.
Mr. Hussein was held for 20 months before formal charges were made against him.
April 10, 2008 By Richard Perez-Pena
An Iraqi judicial panel has ruled that an Associated Press photographer should be set free, two years after the United States military imprisoned him on terrorism charges, The A.P. said Wednesday.
But the military declined to say whether it would release the photographer, Bilal Hussein, and he might still face a separate criminal charge.
The judicial panel did not pass judgment on the guilt or innocence of Mr. Hussein, 36, but ruled that he was covered by an Iraqi amnesty law, Associated Press officials said. The organization declined to show a reporter a translation of the ruling.
American forces detained Mr. Hussein on April 12, 2006, in Ramadi, where they were fighting insurgents, but his case did not go to court until this past December. The American military charged him with conspiring with insurgents to photograph an explosives attack on United States and Iraqi forces, and offering to provide a counterfeit identification card to a sniper with the insurgents.
Associated Press executives maintain that the charges are false. David Tomlin, associate general counsel of the news organization, said of the evidence against Mr. Hussein, “Some of it is unreliable, some of it is wrong, and some of it does not mean what the military purports it to mean.”
Lt. Patrick Evans of the Navy, a spokesman for the American-led multinational force in Iraq, said he did not know if the military would respond to the ruling.
“We’re aware of the reports of the Iraqis’ decision to issue an amnesty in this case, but we have not heard directly from the Iraqis,” he said.
Mr. Hussein was held for 20 months before formal charges were made against him.