Judge Rules Against Effort to Free U.S. Citizen Detained in UAE

Source: ABC

Judge Rules Against Effort to Free U.S. Citizen Detained in UAE
Naji Hamdan Says He Was Beaten Until Losing Consciousness in Abu Dhabi Prison
By ANNA SCHECTER and JUSTIN ROOD
June 8, 2009


A federal judge in Washington, D.C. today dismissed a petition by the American Civil Liberties Union to force the U.S. government to reveal whether American officials were involved in the detention and alleged torture of an American citizen by officials in the United Arab Emirates now accused of being a terrorist.

In his ruling from the bench, U.S. District Judge James Robertson left the door open for the ACLU to bring new a new legal argument in the case, but said that the ACLU had not demonstrated he had sufficient legal authority to involve himself in the case of 42-year-old Naji Hamdan. Hamdan was detained for months by UAE officials before the government there charged him with three terror-related crimes.

Robertson also said that the evidence the ACLU cited to argue that U.S. government officials may have been involved in Hamdan's detention was based largely on "hearsay upon hearsay upon hearsay," and on Hamdan's own allegations, which he called "self-serving."

Hamdan's UAE trial is slated to begin Sunday, June 14. ACLU lawyers said in court today they believed he could face the death penalty if he is convicted.

Read more: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7785369&page=1

...therefore they can't get the documents.

Brilliant ruling (sarcasm)

Passes the Gitmo test.

Keepum coming!