WASHINGTON, DC (March 19, 2008) - Associated Press photojournalist Bilal Hussein – held by the U.S. military in prison in Iraq since April 2006 – still doesn't know what crime he's charged with, and AP's chief executive officer says that in these times of continued government secrecy the public has a right to a more open government, as well as a right to know what their government is doing.
AP president Tom Curley said the news media should be pressing presidential candidates on whether their administrations would enforce "The spirit as well as the letter of the law." Curley spoke before audience gathered to recognize National Sunshine Week at the National Press Club on Wednesday night. "Secrecy is one of the handiest tools for government that wants to be accountable only to itself regardless of the spirit of any law," he said.
Curley once again called for the U.S. military to release any evidence they have against the Iraqi photographer who's been imprisoned for almost two years now. An Iraqi judge placed a gag order on Hussein's first court hearing in December 2007, months after the photographer had been held in prison without being charged with any crimes, and the military has remained silent even though initially Pentagon spokesmen alleged that Hussein was suspected of taking part in a wide range of terrorist-related activities. To date, the military has failed to produce any conclusive evidence to support their allegations and an independent investigation completed by a former federal prosecutor at the request of AP failed to find one piece of evidence that conclusively implicated the photojournalist in any wrongdoing.
AP's CEO also praised congressional passage of legislation that toughened the Freedom of Information Act, and called for Congress to pass a federal shield law to protect journalists who are being pressured by judges to reveal their confidential sources. (The National Press Photographers Association, along with other press freedom supporters, has been lobbying for nearly two years for the passage of the federal shield law, called the Free Flow of Information Act.) Curley cited the recent case of former USA Today reporter Toni Locy and the horrific contempt fines a judge imposed against her as a "dramatic example" of why the law is needed. At one time, Locy also worked for AP.
