Source: MSN
Eric Lewis, who is a lawyer working on Bilal’s case. He is also a board member of the company which owns The Independent
Last week, President Trump and his supporters tried to stop electoral votes from being counted. Their arguments, while varied, eventually settled on one key claim: the “due process” rights of American voters were somehow being violated. I could not help but be struck by the irony. Today the Trump administration claimed that Americans can be stripped of due process rights — not to vote, but to life. The government’s argument? The reasons the US wants to assassinate Bilal, an American journalist who has been reporting from Syria, are so secret that they can’t possibly be aired in a courtroom.
© Provided by The Independent
When pressed by the court, the government asserted that it has the absolute right to order the assassination of an American citizen, any time, anywhere, including within the United States, and then claim that it is a state secret and its actions are unreviewable by any Court. Some of the judges indicated shock that such a wide power could be claimed, a claim never before made.
As long as the government contends the evidence is too secret to share then the Americans caught in the crosshairs are out of luck. And the rest of us just have to trust the President’s judgment with no role whatever for the courts. And as for the unlucky target? He can only try to duck.
Working on this case is a bit like watching the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report come to life. Bilal has spent the past decade working as a journalist in conflict zones. Since 2012 he has been based in Syria, where he has tried to cover all sides of the conflict, including that of the rebels the US at first supported and now calls terrorists. Whatever one’s views of that tragic quagmire, Bilal is not supporting anyone; he is doing his job.
Suggested reading
The Quran Applauded as a Landmark Contribution to ‘Words of Justice’ by Harvard
The Concept of Justice in Islam by Sir Zafrulla Khan
Hollywood Actress Emilie Francois, Now a Muslim, Speaks of Social Justice in Islam
A New Commentary of the Holy Quran Emphasizing Compassion, Justice and Human Rights Launched https://t.co/AHTev2hfQo via @wordpressdotcom
— TheMuslimTimes (@TheMuslimTimes2) July 17, 2017
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
A New Commentary of the Holy Quran Emphasizing Compassion, Justice and Human Rights Launched https://t.co/AHTev2hfQo via @wordpressdotcom
— TheMuslimTimes (@TheMuslimTimes2) July 17, 2017
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Categories: America, Americas, United States, US President, USA