Bilal Hussein is back in the news. Matt LaPlante and I met Bilal at the government center in Ramadi in October 2005. We were told by some of the American soldiers that they may not be legitimate journalists. Although he seemed legitimate (he had the same press credentials from the press center in Baghdad that we had) I had no idea at the time, that Bilal was a photographer, or that he was part of the Associate Press Iraq photo team that would later win the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. You can read about Bilal here: http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003678589
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OR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BILAL Press Release for Journalists
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Today over 1850 professional photographers and journalists from over 90 countries sent once again a petition to the U.S. Government demanding the immediate release of Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein.
Bilal Hussein was detained by US Forces in Iraq on April 12, 2006, and has been held in prison ever since without charges.
This week, the US Military informed The Associated Press that they plan to seek a criminal complaint against Bilal before an Iraqi court on Nov. 29.
Despite the fact that the US Army had said to media outlets that they have “irrefutable evidence” that Bilal is “a terrorist media operative” who had “infiltrated the AP” they won’t say what the charges are or what evidence will be presented.
We can only wonder why after holding Bilal for 19 months without charges they will not reveal to the AP defense lawyer the accusation or the evidence they feel so strongly about.
Further, the US Army says that if the Iraqi justice system acquits him they could still throw Bilal back in jail.
A nearly 50-page report [http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_international/bilal_document/index.html] by former federal prosecutor Paul Gardephe on behalf of the AP and recently disclosed by the news agency concludes that there is no hard evidence for any of the allegations that the US Military has so far unofficially made about Bilal.
Considering the towering injustice committed against Bilal, we demand Bilal’s immediate release.
Among the signatories are Pulitzer Prize winners Al Diaz, David Leeson, Judy Walgren, Anja Niedringhaus, Alexander Zemlianichenko, Oded Balilty, Lucian Perkins, John Moore and Charles J. Hanley. Agency VII photographers Gary Knight and John Stanmeyer, Noor agency photographer Philip Blenkinsop and Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado have also signed the petition. The full list of signatures is available at www.freebilal.org
The petition, transcribed below, was first faxed on Oct. 12 to the State Department, the White House, the Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Office of the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and to the Department of Justice.
More on Bilal’s incarceration, and links to news coverage of efforts to free him, can be found at www.freebilal.org
We would appreciate it if you would consider reporting on Bilal Hussein’s situation.
Free Bilal Committee
Contact:
Annika Engvall
annika.engvall@ worldpicturenews.com
+1 646-454-5953 / Cell +1 (347) 582-1165
Tomas Van Houtryve
tomas.van.houtryve@ gmail.com
Cell +33 (678) 53 03 16
Petition:
“On April 12, 2006, Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein was detained by the US Forces in Iraq and has been held in prison ever since.
No formal charges have been presented yet against Bilal, who is behind bars for having the courage to photograph Iraqi insurgents. Bilal was part of an AP team that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for its coverage of the Iraq war.
Bilal’s arrest and imprisonment are a serious affront to the press as a whole, as well as to democratic traditions.
We, over 1850 professional photographers and journalists from over 90 countries, are seriously concerned for the life of Bilal Hussein, especially in view of the amount of time he has already been locked up and the prison conditions to which he is being subjected.
For these reasons we demand his immediate release.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned (see below)
Ps. The full list of signatures is available at www.freebilal.org/
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