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"Unprivileged enemy belligerent" status places designees in legal limbo, denies them due process in civil proceedings, and condemns them to military prosecutorial injustice with no right of appeal, even if sentenced to death. Torture-extracted testimonies will be allowed, despite their illegality and unreliability. Henceforth, judicial fairness will be null and void, replaced by political expediency that condemns innocent victims to prison hell.
Linking incidents like New York's to designated terrorist groups makes it more likely. So does suggesting guilt by supposition or alleged association, with or without proof, let alone entrapment - what the Lectric Law Library defines as:
"Enduc(ing) or persuad(ing someone) to commit a crime that he (or she) had no previous intent to commit; and the law as a matter of policy forbids conviction in such a case." If evidence "leaves a reasonable doubt whether the person had any intent to commit the crime except for inducement or persuasion....then the person is not guilty." Prosecutors "must prove beyond a reasonable doubt" that entrapment didn't occur.
On May 6, McClatchy Newspapers Jonathan Landay headlined, "US officials: No credible evidence that terrorists trained Shahzad," saying:
"Four (unnamed) intelligence and counterterrorism officials and two other US officials with knowledge of the case said 'There is nothing that confirms that any groups have been found in this (case) for certain. It's a lot of speculation at this point....at the most, (Shahzad may have) had incidental contact with a terrorist organization, and he may have been encouraged to act."
Yet media reports scream it, like the Wall Street Journal's May 5 editorial headlined, "From Peshawar to Times Square," saying:
Shahzad's arrest is "proof that the world's jihadists are still targeting the US homeland....We will no doubt learn a great deal more about Shahzad and his links to radical groups in Pakistan, where he reportedly spent several months last year, including two weeks in or around the Taliban-saturated environs of Peshawar....One regrettable part of this investigation (is that he) has been allowed to lawyer-up and told of his right to remain silent, rather than being subjected to more thorough interrogation as an enemy combatant."
Unfortunately, accounts like the above are more commonplace than exceptional, the media pronouncing sentence before indictments. They also suggest other "jihadists" lie waiting for their chance to attack, meaning Muslims, of course, at the wrong time to be one in a nation vilifying their religion, heritage, race and ethnicity.
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