NYT: U.S. Is Settling Detainee's Suit in 9/11 Sweep

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/28/nyregion/28detain.html?hp&ex=1141102800&en=7ec5f7a8aa796941&ei=5094&partner=homepage

The federal government has agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by an Egyptian who was among dozens of Muslim men swept up in the New York area after 9/11, held for months in a federal detention center in Brooklyn and deported after being cleared of links to terrorism.

The settlement, filed in federal court late yesterday, is the first the government has made in a number of lawsuits charging that noncitizens were abused and their constitutional rights violated in detentions after the terror attacks.

It removes one of two plaintiffs from a case in which a federal judge ruled last fall that former Attorney General John Ashcroft, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other top government officials must answer questions under oath. Government lawyers filed an appeal of that ruling on Friday.

In the settlement agreement, which requires approval by a federal judge in Brooklyn, lawyers for the government asserted that the officials were not admitting any liability or fault. In court papers they have said that the 9/11 attacks created "special factors," including the need to deter future terrorism, that outweighed the plaintiffs' right to sue.

[Judi Lynn]

1. US settles suit by 9/11 detainee

Last Updated: Tuesday, 28 February 2006, 10:42 GMT
US settles suit by 9/11 detainee

The US government has agreed to pay $300,000 (£172,000) to settle a lawsuit brought by an Egyptian arrested after the 11 September attacks, reports say.
Ehab Elmaghraby was detained for nearly a year and deported after being cleared of links to terrorism.

He claimed his rights were violated in custody and sought damages.

The settlement, in which the government did not admit wrongdoing, is said to be the first involving claims of dozens of Muslims arrested after 9/11.

The lawsuit was filed in August 2004 by Mr Elmaghraby and a Pakistani citizen, Javaid Iqbal. The latter is still pursuing the suit.

They argued the US government would not let them appeal their solitary confinement in a special unit of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4757866.stm

[fasttense]

2. You think this will protect the war criminals who authorized it? n/t

[Demeter]

3. A Very Significant Case

This is sure to figure in the War Crimes trials, as well as the refounding of the US.

[Up2Late]

4. Did this make Fox "news"!?!?

How about MSNBC?!?!

Didn't think so.