Show A6 — The Herald Jdumal Logan Utah Thursday August 15 2002 0 War on terrorism AP photo US District Judge Robert Doumar left complains to Gregory Barre assistant to the US solicitor general that the prosecutors weren't giving him enough information about their case against Yaser Esam Hamdi at a court hearing on Tuesday in Norfolk Va in this sketch by William Hennessey Jr cars® tests rmrosMtetioiniall Oofiraiite Mentiont WASHINGTON (AP) — A Louisiana-bor- n accused of being a soldier in the war on America has become a lest case on the limits of government power to hold its citizens indefinitely without trial and without a lawyer If Yaser Esam Hamdi can be imprisoned in a military jail with few of the constitutional protections afforded Americans facing criminal prosecution then other US citizens could be similarly held some legal scholars say “That sort of thing used to happen in the Soviet Union and may still happen today in Iran and Iraq but It's not the sort of thing that should happen in the United States” said ' Stephen Dycus a national security law expert at Vermont Law School Hamdi was captured in Afghanistan in November after a prison uprising by sus- pected Taliban and members He was transported along with hundreds of other da da alleged enemy soldiers to a makeshift prison at the US Navy base at Guantanamo Buy Cuba The' military transferred him to tlie Navy brig in Norfolk Va alter determining he was telling the truth about his birth in Baton Rouge La while his Saudi father worked there Now he is the subject of a power struggle between the Bush administration and a federal judge appointed by Ronald Reagan who has niled that Hamdi has at least the right to see a lawyer “Sri the Constitution does- n’t apply to Mr Hamdi?" US District Judge Robert G Doumar snapped during a testy standoff with Justice Department lawyers Tuesday ' The Justice Department calls Hamdi an enemy combatant a somewhat elastic term generally describing a " wartime prisoner who does not play by the rules of war and is thus ineligible for protection as a prisoner of war Those prisoners may be held ‘ without charges or trial and interrogated humanely without a lawyer present They are supposed to be released when the war is over A federal appeals court is awaiting word from Doumar about Hamdi’s status and the case will probably end up before the Supreme Court lawyers said The high court could settle constitutional questions about the indefinite detention of US citizens or whether the courts have veto power over the White House when it comes to deciding who is an enemy prisoner For the government the stakes in the Hamdi case turn’ on how fully the rules for enemy combatants apply to those bom in the United States or who assume citizenship later Prosecutors would prefer to keep all enemy combatants out of US courts where they fear judges might order the prisoners released or where See LIMITS on A8 Dirty bomb' suspect a minor figure some US officials say " WASHINGTON (AP) — The government media blitz after the arrest of an American accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb was almost unprecedented for a 1 1 terrorist suspect post-SeGeneral John Attorney Ashcroft held a news conference via satellite while visiting officials in Moscow: Justice Department officials in Washington called him a sig- niftcant terrorism figure and President Bush weighed in to pt agrafe But two months later US law enforcement officials ' close to the case say Jose Padilla is probably a “small fish” with no ties to cell members in the United ' da States The FBI’s investigation has produced no evidence that Jose Padilla had begun preparations for an attack and little reason to believe he had any Josq Padilla support from to direct such a plot said one of the officials ' ' speaking on condition of da anonymity Still some authorities believe Padilla should remain 'detained-- ' Padilla 3 1 is being held in a military brig in South Car-olina as an enemy combatant a legal designation allowing the government to jail him without formal criminal : " charges His attorney has ' argued in court that he is being held illegally and should be released' Investigators have said they believe Rodilla a Muslim coni-ve- rt and a former Chicago gang member ventured Seas in search of clerics con- nected to the most radical branch of Islamic fundamen-talism In early June Ashcroft I announced from Moscow via satellite hookup that Padilla was arrested at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago ' Ashcroft's deputies also convened a news conference in Washington “We have disrupted an unfolding terrorist plot to attack the United States by DIRTY on A8 In brief Pilot once suspect threatens to sue US British authorities I ( V ' M LONDON (AP)— An Algerian pilot held in Britain for five months oh suspicion of training some of Jhehijacken in the Sept 1 1 attacks said Wednesday he was considering legal ' ' action against British and US authorities Lotfi Raissi said he would resort to the courts if he did'riot receive public apologies ' from the BI Scotland Yard and the Crojwn Prosecution Service whom he accusfed of facial and religious discrimination' Riissi was detained near London on Sept 21 'following his indictment by a federal grand jury in Arizona The United States sought his : extradition However he was freed on bailin February and the extradition case was dismissed in April after die United States said it couldn’t link him to terrorism “I believe the law ktates that & man is innocent until proven guilty I was guilty until proven innocent” Raissi said on British BroadV casting Corp radio “They started the investigation because Muslim Algerian Arabic and a pilot If just gave than license to discriminate” Prosecutors had said Raissi remained a sus- - : t ( y- I-- pect and opposed his release Though not making a case on terrorism the United States had sought to extradite Raiisi on charges of falsifying applications for a pilot’s license— he allegedly failed to disclose s knee operation — and other documents Raissi said Wednesday that he was threatened by both inmates and guards at London’s ' Beliparsh Prison after his picture Was published on the front page of a newspaper under the caption “(he terrbr instructor" FBI circulates Hatfill photo " says he’s ‘person of interest : WASHINGTON (AP) —The FBI publicly declares D Steven J Hatfill no more or less important than 30 “peop&of interest” in the investigation into last fall's anthrax Attacks but law enforcement officials concede he is being treated differently ? v v Haffill’k photo is the only one being 'shown to residents of the Princeton NJ neighbor-hood where a mailbox tested positive for ‘ ' v anthrax last week And a US official close to the case speak- ing on condition of anonymity said HamlTs apaitmentwas the only home searched tinder a warrant in connection to the case ' wa - -- |