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U.S. Joins Cuba, Uzbekistan, and Myanmar in Jailing Journalists
(Dharam Shourie, December 14, 2005)
China, Cuba, Eritrea, and Ethiopia were the world's leading jailers of journalists in 2005, together accounting for two-thirds of the 125 editors, writers, and photo journalists imprisoned around the world, while US was for the first time listed among the top 10, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said. . . . The United States, which is holding journalists in detention centers in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, rose to sixth among countries jailing journalists, just behind Uzbekistan and tied with Myanmar, it said. . . . "Anti-state" allegations, including subversion, divulging state secrets, and acting against the interests of the state, were the most common charges used to imprison journalists worldwide. . . . Twenty-four countries imprisoned journalists in 2005, reflecting an increase from the 20 nations included in the 2004 census. . . . "We're disturbed to see the number of jailed journalists rise, and we're particularly troubled that the list of the worst abusers includes new countries such as Ethiopia and the United States," CPJ executive director Ann Cooper said. . . . "Journalists covering conflict, unrest, corruption, and human rights abuses face a growing risk of incarceration in many countries, where governments seek to disguise their repressive acts as legitimate legal processes," Ann added. . . . Uzbekistan ranked fifth among countries, with six journalists in prison. Myanmar and the United States followed, with five each. US detention centers in Iraq were holding four journalists, while the US Naval Base at Guantanamo held one. . . . Forty-one journalists whose work appeared primarily on the Web or in other electronic forms were in jail, accounting for just under one-third of imprisoned worldwide.

posted by LoZo 10:18 AM

 

NOT GUILTY of 51 criminal counts - Free Speech Prevails
(Eric Lichtblau, Washington Post, December 7, 2005)
In a major defeat for law enforcement officials, a jury in Florida failed to return guilty verdicts Tuesday on any of 51 criminal counts against a former Florida professor and three co-defendants accused of operating a North American front for Palestinian terrorists. . . . The former professor, Sami al-Arian, a fiery advocate for Palestinian causes who became a lightning rod for criticism nationwide over his vocal anti-Israeli stances, was found not guilty on eight criminal counts related to terrorist support, perjury and immigration violations. . . . "This was a political prosecution from the start, and I think the jury realized that," Linda Moreno, one of Mr. Arian's defense lawyers . . . "They looked over at Sami al-Arian; they saw a man who had taken unpopular positions on issues thousands of miles away, but they realized he wasn't a terrorist. The truth is a powerful thing." . . . Federal officials in Washington expressed surprise at the verdict in a case they had pursued for years. . . . The trial, lasting more than five months, hinged on the question of whether Mr. Arian's years of work in the Tampa area in support of Palestinian independence crossed the threshold from protected free speech and political advocacy to illegal support for terrorists. . . . Prosecutors, who had been building a case against Mr. Arian for 10 years, relied on some 20,000 hours of taped conversations culled from wiretaps on Mr. Arian and his associates. Officials said he had helped finance and direct terrorist attacks in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, while using his faculty position teaching computer engineering at the University of South Florida as a cover for his terrorist activities. . . . But ultimately, the jury in Tampa that heard the case found him not guilty of the charge of conspiring to kill people overseas, and it deadlocked on three of the other most serious terrorism charges. . . . In bringing the case against Mr. Arian in 2003, the department relied on the easing of legal restrictions under the antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act to present years of wiretaps on the defendants in a criminal context. . . . Several legal analysts and law professors said Tuesday that the government appeared to have overreached in its case. . . . Mr. Arian is to remain in jail on an immigration matter, but Ms. Moreno said the defense would probably file a motion next week asking to have him released on bond. . . . For the local Muslim community, the verdicts are "a huge relief, and people are just jubilant," said Ahmed Bedier, director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. . . . Mr. Bedier, who attended much of the trial, said he had doubted whether Mr. Arian could receive a fair trial in Tampa, especially in light of the publicity his case had generated, but "the jury proved us wrong," he said in a telephone interview. . . . "This was a very important case for us in that it tested both the Patriot Act and the right to political activity," Mr. Bedier said. "The jury is sending a statement that even in post-9/11 America, the justice system works, the burden of proof is on the prosecution, and political association - while it may be unpopular to associate oneself with controversial views - is still not illegal in this country."

posted by LoZo 2:05 AM