09/18/06

AP Statement in Response to Comments by Pentagon's Bryan Whitman

New York -- At a Pentagon press briefing in the morning of Sept. 18, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman commented to reporters on the U.S. military's detainment of AP photographer Bilal Hussein, who was taken into custody on April 12, 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq.  Following is the response of David Tomlin, associate general counsel at The Associated Press:

"The statements by Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman don’t address AP’s central concern that Bilal Hussein is being denied due process.
 
"Mr. Whitman says there have been three “independent, objective reviews” of Bilal’s case. But the only review AP and Bilal are aware of is a single deliberation by a “Combined Review and Release Board.” Neither Bilal nor his representative attended, or even heard about it until long after it had occurred. Bilal had no chance to see the evidence against him or present evidence of his own to refute it. If Mr. Whitman is right and there have been two more reviews that we and Bilal don’t know about, Bilal’s case has still not received a proper hearing.
 
"Mr. Whitman says it would be “up to the central criminal court of Iraq” to charge Bilal with any wrongdoing. But the Iraqi court can’t do that until the U.S. military hands over Bilal and whatever evidence they have against him to Iraqi authorities.
 
"This is exactly what AP and Bilal are asking for. If the evidence isn’t strong enough to support charges, however, Bilal should be released.''