The Free Press: AP Lawyers Will Go to Iraq Next Week to Defend Photographer (E&P)

Press Group Raises Concerns

by Joe Strupp (Editor & Publisher, 2007-11-21)

Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll believes AP photographer Bilal Hussein, who finally may be charged with unspecified alleged terrorist crimes in Iraq, can get a fair trial there.

But she stressed that the U.S. military's failure to provide AP with specific information or evidence related to charges may well hamper efforts to mount a defense and ultimately free Hussein, whom AP contends is innocent.

"I have no reason to think the Iraqi court system will be anything but fair and impartial," Carroll told E&P a day after AP revealed charges had been brought. "But they can only be impartial about what is presented to them. If one side has evidence and the other side doesn't know what it is, how can we defend Bilal? They have told our lawyers they will find out specifics when the complaint is filed next week."

Carroll's comments come a day after Hussein, 36, who has been held by U.S. and Iraqi military officials in Baghdad since April 2006, received word that the U.S. military planned to seek a criminal complaint against him. An AFP report late Monday stated the complaint accused Hussein of being "a terrorist media operative" who had "infiltrated the AP."

Dave Tomlin, AP associate general counsel, said such language is not new, noting the military had used such vague phrasing for months to describe Hussein, but without substantial evidence or specific incidents that have not been refuted.

"We continue not to have heard anything that would be grounds for a charge," Tomlin said. "What is new this week is that after months of stonewalling, they propose on less than two weeks notice to drag him into a court room."

The rest of the story: Editor & Publisher