Should an American be extended US legal rights when he is in Syria fighting with ISIS against Americans?
An American ISIS fighter currently being detained by the U.S. in Iraq must be given access to a lawyer, a federal judge has ruled.
The suspect has been held since September 12 when he surrendered to U.S.-backed fighters in Syria. He is being detained as an unlawful enemy combatant and has not been charged.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non-profit which works to ensure all Americans are afforded their constitutionally guaranteed rights, filed a motion challenging the detention and requesting permission to provide an attorney for the detainee. The Department of Defense filed a counter-motion. The government told the court they captured the unnamed detainee last month, and while he was willing to talk to the FBI, he “felt he should have an attorney present.”
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan sided with the ACLU. She ruled the military had to give the ACLU “immediate and unmonitored access to the detainee” so they can ask him if he wants them to act as his lawyers.
“This is a landmark ruling that rejects the Trump administration’s unprecedented attempt to block an American citizen from challenging his executive imprisonment,” said Jonathan Hafetz, senior staff attorney for the ACLU. “Ensuring citizens detained by the government have access to a lawyer and a court is essential to preserving the Constitution and the rule of law in America.”
The detainee is believed to have spoken to intelligence officers without an attorney.
Via Clarion