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US citizen captured in Syria says he wants ACLU mout'piece
[ARABNEWS] An American citizen picked up on the Syrian battlefield and held by the US military for nearly four months without a lawyer has told the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that he wants to challenge his detention, a lawyer for the civil rights group said Friday.ACLU attorney Jonathan Hafetz said he and two other ACLU lawyers went to the Pentagon on Wednesday and spoke via videoconference with the detainee, who is being held as an enemy combatant accused of fighting with ISIS. "He spoke loud and clear that he wants a lawyer and wants to challenge his detention now," Hafetz said, adding that the detainee also indicated that he wants the ACLU to represent him. Hafetz said the detainee was born in the US but would not identify him. He "expressed concerns about his name being released and asked that it not be made public," Hafetz said. The ACLU filed a court petition months ago, challenging the man’s detention and asking to act on his behalf to provide him access to legal counsel. Hafetz said that the detainee told the ACLU that he did not learn that the petition had been filed on his behalf until shortly before the video conference. Last month, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that the US military must provide legal counsel to the detainee. The US government had acknowledged that it has detained him without fulfilling his request to see a lawyer. The judge ordered the military to let the ACLU have "immediate and unmonitored access to the detainee" to determine his wishes. Posted by: Fred 2018-01-06 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=505179 |