America's Other War: On Liberty
The Register: Are Scott, Carly and
Larry risking time at Camp X-Ray? Take the case of senior
Intel Engineer Maher Mofied 'Mike' Hawash. Hawash has been arrested on
undisclosed charges and detained. He has not been accused of any
wrongdoing, but owes his loss of liberty - and constitutional rights -
because he has detained as a "material witness" on the grounds
of giving to a charity.
The flippant headline masks a deadly serious issue. Our government
sees no big problem in imprisoning citizens without due process, and then
keeping them penned up with little or no access to legal assistance, much
less their families.
The case in question may actually lead to some action on behalf of
freedom, because the person being held works for Intel and has some
influential friends. Stephen McGeady, an Intel executive, and others have
put up a Free Mike Hawash site and
are contacting various authorities on his behalf.
I hope another immigrant who works for Intel will take note of this
situation. His name is Andy Grove.
UPDATE: Meanwhile, it turns out, the feds are using thuggish tactics to
extort convictions in cases with alleged terrorism connections. Today's
Wall Street Journal reports on
incredible pressure facing the defendants in the suburban-Buffalo case
involving Yemeni Americans. Here's a quote from the story:
Last week's guilty pleas came after the government threatened the
defendants with "enemy combatant" status -- which meant their
cases would have been pulled out of court, and the men handed over to the
military for indefinite incommunicado confinement, according to
prosecutors and defense lawyers. Prosecutors also threatened to bring a
new indictment that would have included treason charges, which carry a
potential death penalty, and weapons charges which automatically would
have added 30 years to prison sentences, the lawyers said. The two
defendants who pleaded guilty last week face a maximum of 10 years in
prison.
Several experts on criminal law said the threat of enemy-combatant status
to extract a guilty plea amounts to an unfair threat, since if imposed it
would leave defendants with little chance of mounting a defense. John G.
Douglass, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at the University
of Richmond in Virginia, said, "If the government is using that as a
tool in plea bargaining, then we have in fact reached a troubling stage
in our criminal-justice system."
Of course, none of this could ever happen to you. Wanna bet?
• posted by Dan Gillmor 11:21
AM
• permanent link to this item
