AP photographer receives Iraqi amnesty

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

BAGHDAD - An Iraqi judicial committee has dismissed terrorism-related allegations against Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein and ordered him freed after nearly two years in U.S. military custody.

The decision by a four-judge panel says Hussein's case falls under a new amnesty law and orders Iraqi courts to "cease legal proceedings." The ruling says that Hussein should be "immediately" released if no other charges are pending.

The ruling is dated Monday but AP's lawyers were not able to thoroughly review it until Wednesday.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080409/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_detained_photographer

[Robbien]

1. I hate the headline AP is using for this story. People will just pass it by

due to how boring it is titled.

We jailed a photographer and kept him imprisoned for two years just because he was taking pictures in Iraq!

Iraqis say nonsense, let the guy go free.

[maddezmom]

2. doesn't looks like he's going to be freed anytime soon

But there's no reason to believe that Hussein will go free anytime soon.

When the Marines took him into custody in April 2006, they claimed that he possessed bomb-making materials and conspired with insurgents and terrorists.

"U.S. military authorities have said a U.N. Security Council mandate allows them to retain custody of a detainee they believe is a security risk even if an Iraqi judicial body has ordered that prisoner freed," AP reports. "The U.N. mandate is due to expire at the end of this year."

Hussein was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for photography in 2005.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2008/04/iraqis-dismiss.html?csp=34

[rox63]

3. So much for that "sovereign nation" thingy

:eyes:

[Barrett808]

4. US says must review Iraqi AP photographer's status

US says must review Iraqi AP photographer's status 10 Apr 2008 15:20:25 GMT
By Noah Barkin

BAGHDAD, April 10 (Reuters) - The U.S. military will not free a Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photographer held since 2006 unless its own review board approves, a spokesman said on Thursday, after an Iraqi panel ordered his release.

The U.S. military has accused Bilal Hussein, an Iraqi, of working with insurgents in Iraq and held him without charge. He was seized two years ago in Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, and is being held in Baghdad.

An Iraqi judicial committee ordered Hussein's release and dismissed terrorism-related accusations against him, the AP said on Wednesday. The news agency said a four-judge panel ruled Hussein's case fell under a two-month-old amnesty law.

But Lieutenant Commander Kenneth Marshall, spokesman for U.S. military detention facilities in Iraq, said the law did not apply to people in U.S. military custody.

"He is still in U.S. custody. I can confirm that," Marshall told Reuters.

AP has repeatedly called for the release of Hussein, 36, who was part of its photo team that won a Pulitzer prize in 2005.

The news agency had said it was unclear if Hussein would face further obstacles to his release, saying the Iraqi panel may still be reviewing another allegation against him.

"If the amnesty is granted (by the Iraqi panel) on both counts, he remains in detainee status," Marshall said. "He would then most likely be reviewed as a detainee and he would be released if not seen to be an imperative threat to the security of Iraq."

In November, U.S. military spokesman Major-General Kevin Bergner said Hussein's case had been reviewed several times by a board that periodically reviews the files of detainees.

Hussein was still deemed a "security threat", he had said at the time. Those reviews generally take place every six months. Many of the 23,000 detainees in U.S. military custody have not been charged but remain in jail because they are deemed a security risk.

(more)

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L10842306.htm