Sunday, October 23, 2005
NYT: U.S. Falls in World Press Freedom Ranking + AP: Dutch court won't extradite terror suspect
Associated Press
Friday, October 21, 2005; A20
PARIS, Oct. 20 -- European countries lead the world in providing freedoms to news media, while the United States lost ground in part because of the jailing earlier this year of a New York Times reporter, an international media advocacy group said in an annual report.
North Korea retained the last spot on the 167-country World Press Freedom Index for 2005, published Thursday by Reporters Without Borders. Eritrea, in the Horn of Africa, ranked 166, and Turkmenistan, in Central Asia, came in 165, the group said in an advance statement.
Iraq was 157th on the list. The group said the safety of journalists became even more precarious there in 2005 than the year before. A total of 72 members of the media have been killed since the U.S.-led fighting began in March 2003, with at least 24 journalists and their assistants killed this year.
The United States dropped more than 20 spots, to 44th place, mainly because of the imprisonment of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and judicial action that was "undermining the privacy of journalistic sources," the statement said.
Miller spent 85 days in jail for initially refusing to reveal the source who disclosed the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. Miller was released this month after agreeing to testify before a grand jury.
The top 10 countries on the list are European, led by Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Iceland, Norway and the Netherlands, where "robust press freedom is firmly established."
A growing number of African and Latin American countries earned higher rankings, including Benin, which ranked 25th, and El Salvador, 28th.
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Wednesday, October 12, 2005 ยท Last updated 7:23 p.m. PT
Dutch court won't extradite terror suspect
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- A Dutch court on Wednesday blocked the extradition of a Dutch terror suspect to the United States, saying his legal rights in U.S. custody could not be guaranteed.
The man, who is of Egyptian descent and was identified only by his initials M. A., is wanted on charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, apparently to help the al-Qaida terrorist network. He has been in custody in the Netherlands for around eight months.
The ruling by the Hague District Court said the suspect's "fundamental right" of unlimited access to a defense lawyer and immediate access to a judge may be compromised in the United States.
Last month, the court sought guarantees from U.S. prosecutors that the detainee would be afforded those basic rights if he were extradited. In Wednesday's ruling, it rejected a U.S. submission that "the United States views such a request as unwarranted and unnecessary."
The ruling is a setback for efforts by the two countries to strengthen trans-Atlantic cooperation in the fight against terrorism. The Dutch Justice Ministry, which had already approved the extradition, said it was studying the decision and could not comment in detail.
"We are considering ways to advance the case. We don't rule out an appeal," said spokesman Arnaud Strijbis.
The court also ordered the government to pay the defendant about $1,300 to cover his legal fees.
The defendant's lawyer, Bart Nooitgedagt, called the decision a major victory for his client. He said he would seek the suspect's release, although he still could face prosecution by Dutch authorities for the alleged crimes.
"This ruling is unique in Dutch legal history. Never before has a judge ruled that an extradition to the United States could not take place because the rights of a defendant could not be guaranteed," Nooitgedagt said.
Nooitgedagt said U.S. prosecutors sought to question his client in relation to the so-called Detroit sleeper-cell case from 2003 against four North African immigrants, the first U.S. prosecution of an alleged terror cell detected after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
The case fell apart over prosecutorial misconduct and earlier this year the chief prosecutor resigned and a federal judged apologized to the defendants.
U.S. authorities sought to prosecute the Dutch suspect on charges of telecommunications fraud related to the Detroit case, but Nooitgedagt feared they would use interrogations tactics banned under international law.
