[wordup] America's Other War: On Liberty

[Adam Shand]

From: 
http://weblog.siliconvalley.com/column/dangillmor/archives/000908.shtml
More: http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/30046.html
More: http://www.freemikehawash.org/

America's Other War: On Liberty
• posted by Dan Gillmor 11:21 AM

   # 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?