It Is A SAD Day Indeed When An Iraqi Terror Suspect Can School The U. S. Justice Department On The Constitution And International Law.
Iraqi terror suspect says he shouldn't be tried in Kentucky federal court on roadside bomb charge
Written by Andrew Wolfson
One of two Iraqi refugees indicted in Bowling Green on terrorism-related charges says he should only be prosecuted in an Iraqi court or by a military tribunal for allegedly planting roadside bombs in Iraq.
A lawyer for Waad Ramadan Alwan says in a motion that the charges that he conspired to murder U.S. nationals in Iraq should be dismissed because the Geneva Convention doesn't allow him to be prosecuted in a civilian court.
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and others also have said Alwan and a co-defendant, Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, should not be prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green. But he and others have cited security concerns.
McConnell has said Alwan and Hammadi should be tried at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay “away from civilian populations” and “according to the laws of war.”
Alwan's counsel, chief federal public defender Scott Wendelsorf, said in a motion filed July 19 that under the Geneva Convention, an international treaty signed by the United States, civilians in occupied Iraq were subject to prosecution only under local law or through military tribunals conducted by the U.S.-led coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003.
Wendelsdorf said the federal law under which Alwan was charged was intended by Congress to protect diplomatic personnel overseas, not to punish attacks on American troops in countries under U.S. military occupation.
The U.S. attorney's office had until Friday to respond to the motion. Spokeswoman Stephanie Collins said prosecutors intended to file a response but hadn't by the close of business.
Under the Geneva Convention, according to the motion, civilians in an occupied war zone must be given notice in their own language of offenses for which they can be prosecuted.
The Coalition Provisional Authority which governed Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 informed civilians that the possession or use of improvised explosive devices was illegal. But it said nothing about violations being prosecuted in the civilian courts of coalition-member countries, according to Wendelsdorf's motion.
Alwan is one of only a handful of foreign nationals to be prosecuted in the United States for alleged terrorism offenses in an American-occupied territory such as Iran or Afghanistan during wartime, according to the Justice Department.
He and Hammadi, who were arrested in Bowling Green in May, are also accused of plotting to export missiles and other weapons to insurgents in Iraq.
In an emailed statement, Wendelsdorf said that his motion “deals with important issues of jurisdiction that must be resolved before the case can move forward. It most certainly does not signal any agreement with those suggesting that our courts are not suited to prosecutions of this type.”
Experts on international law had predicted that Alwan would challenge the jurisdiction of the federal government to prosecute him under U.S. domestic civilian law for offenses on Iraqi soil.
They noted that such prosecutions could raise a dangerous precedent in which other countries might try U.S. soldiers in their civilians courts for conduct during lawful combat.
Wendelsforf said in his motion that the United States “itself has on occasion encouraged civilians in occupied territories to attack occupying troops,” including in Afghanistan in the 1980s, when Congress enacted a law urging Afghan civilians to attack occupying Soviet troops.
The Justice Department has countered that under the law with which Alwan is charged prosecutions are limited to terrorism-related offenses because the U.S. attorney general must certify that the alleged act was intended to “coerce, intimidate or retaliate against a government or a civilian population.”
According to the criminal complaint against Alwan, an FBI confidential source secretly tape-recorded him discussing numerous roadside bomb attacks he helped carry out on U.S. troops in Iraq, and his fingerprint was found on one of the devices.
Alwan and Hammadi have pleaded not guilty and are being detained pending trial. No trial date has been set.
Written by Andrew Wolfson
One of two Iraqi refugees indicted in Bowling Green on terrorism-related charges says he should only be prosecuted in an Iraqi court or by a military tribunal for allegedly planting roadside bombs in Iraq.
A lawyer for Waad Ramadan Alwan says in a motion that the charges that he conspired to murder U.S. nationals in Iraq should be dismissed because the Geneva Convention doesn't allow him to be prosecuted in a civilian court.
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and others also have said Alwan and a co-defendant, Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, should not be prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green. But he and others have cited security concerns.
McConnell has said Alwan and Hammadi should be tried at the U.S. military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay “away from civilian populations” and “according to the laws of war.”
Alwan's counsel, chief federal public defender Scott Wendelsorf, said in a motion filed July 19 that under the Geneva Convention, an international treaty signed by the United States, civilians in occupied Iraq were subject to prosecution only under local law or through military tribunals conducted by the U.S.-led coalition that invaded Iraq in 2003.
Wendelsdorf said the federal law under which Alwan was charged was intended by Congress to protect diplomatic personnel overseas, not to punish attacks on American troops in countries under U.S. military occupation.
The U.S. attorney's office had until Friday to respond to the motion. Spokeswoman Stephanie Collins said prosecutors intended to file a response but hadn't by the close of business.
Under the Geneva Convention, according to the motion, civilians in an occupied war zone must be given notice in their own language of offenses for which they can be prosecuted.
The Coalition Provisional Authority which governed Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 informed civilians that the possession or use of improvised explosive devices was illegal. But it said nothing about violations being prosecuted in the civilian courts of coalition-member countries, according to Wendelsdorf's motion.
Alwan is one of only a handful of foreign nationals to be prosecuted in the United States for alleged terrorism offenses in an American-occupied territory such as Iran or Afghanistan during wartime, according to the Justice Department.
He and Hammadi, who were arrested in Bowling Green in May, are also accused of plotting to export missiles and other weapons to insurgents in Iraq.
In an emailed statement, Wendelsdorf said that his motion “deals with important issues of jurisdiction that must be resolved before the case can move forward. It most certainly does not signal any agreement with those suggesting that our courts are not suited to prosecutions of this type.”
Experts on international law had predicted that Alwan would challenge the jurisdiction of the federal government to prosecute him under U.S. domestic civilian law for offenses on Iraqi soil.
They noted that such prosecutions could raise a dangerous precedent in which other countries might try U.S. soldiers in their civilians courts for conduct during lawful combat.
Wendelsforf said in his motion that the United States “itself has on occasion encouraged civilians in occupied territories to attack occupying troops,” including in Afghanistan in the 1980s, when Congress enacted a law urging Afghan civilians to attack occupying Soviet troops.
The Justice Department has countered that under the law with which Alwan is charged prosecutions are limited to terrorism-related offenses because the U.S. attorney general must certify that the alleged act was intended to “coerce, intimidate or retaliate against a government or a civilian population.”
According to the criminal complaint against Alwan, an FBI confidential source secretly tape-recorded him discussing numerous roadside bomb attacks he helped carry out on U.S. troops in Iraq, and his fingerprint was found on one of the devices.
Alwan and Hammadi have pleaded not guilty and are being detained pending trial. No trial date has been set.
Labels: Crime, Middle East, Military, Punishment, Terror
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 6:02 PM
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