US military refuses to comply with court order to free Reuters photographer

Reporters Without Borders deplores the US military's refusal to comply with the Iraqi central criminal court's order to release Reuters photographer Ibrahim Jassam. Maj. Neal Fisher, a spokesman for detainee operations, yesterday said the US military was not bound by Iraqi court orders and would continue to hold Jassam on the grounds that he posed “a threat to Iraq security.” “You cannot proclaim your commitment to the rule of law in Iraq and at the same time reject Iraqi court decisions,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The US military must put an end to this contradiction by freeing Jassam.” Jassam was arrested at his home by US and Iraqi soldiers on 1 September and was taken to the US military at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad airport. The Iraqi central criminal court ruling dismissing all charges against him and ordering his release was issued on 30 November. ---------------------------------------------------------- 1.12.2008 Court orders release of Reuters photographer held by US military Reporters Without Borders is relieved to learn that Iraq's central criminal court yesterday dismissed all charges against Reuters photographer Ibrahim Jassam and ordered his release. Jassam has been held by the US military at Camp Cropper, near Baghdad airport, since 1 September. “We are pleased by this decision, which restores Jassam's rights, but we wonder how he could have spent the past three months in detention in the absence of any evidence against him,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Dozens of journalists have been arrested by the US military since the start of the war in Iraq but none of them has ever been convicted by a court. Jassam must be freed at once and his release should mark the end of arbitrary arrests of journalists in Iraq.” Reuters news editor-in-chief David Schlesinger said: “I am pleased to learn that a court ordered Ibrahim Jassam released as there was no evidence against him. I hope the US authorities comply with this order swiftly to reunite him with his colleagues, friends and family.” ------------ 20.11.2008 New call for release of photographer held by US army Reporters Without Borders and its Iraqi partner organisation the Journalistic Freedom Observatory today renewed their call for the release of photographer Ibrahim Jassam of Reuters news agency, who has been detained by the US Army since 1st September 2008. A contingent of US and Iraqi forces took Jassam from his home in Mahmudiyah in the south of the capital, seizing four cameras, his phone and his laptop computer. He is being held at Camp Cropper close to Baghdad airport. Since the start of the US armed intervention in Iraq in March 2003, the worldwide press freedom organisation has recorded arrests of 12 people working for Reuters, all of whom have subsequently been released and their cases closed without further action. “As the end nears of the UN Security Council mandate allowing multinational coalition forces to detain individuals without trial “for imperative security reasons”, it is regrettable that the US Army should be yet again implicated in the arrest of a journalist,” the two organisations said. “After 31 December 2008, Jassam can no longer be held in custody without being brought before a judge. He has already spent 80 days in detention. Is the army going to continue hounding this journalist until the very last moment?” the two organisations asked. The photographer's sister, Imane Jassam, told the Journalistic Freedom Observatory that her brother was in good health, but “his morale has been hit very hard”. His family have been able to visit him twice. On the same subject: 3.09.2008 - Reporters Without Borders calls for the release of Reuters photographer Logo: ©AFP