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Jose Padilla Indicted

By Jeralyn, Section Terror Detainees
Posted on Tue Nov 22, 2005 at 08:40:20 AM EST
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The Government has indicted Jose Padilla. He's charged with conspiracy to kill and maim people overseas. The indictment does not allege Padilla was planning attacks in the U.S.

Update: The latest documents on Padilla's release from military custody are available at Wiggin and Dana:

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    Jose Padilla Indicted | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: Jose Padilla Indicted (none / 0) (#1)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:21 PM EST
    The indictment avoids a Supreme Court showdown...The high court had been asked to decide when and for how long the government can jail Americans in military prisons. ... and the Bush administration was facing a deadline next Monday for filing its legal arguments.
    It's good to see the administration has so much faith in the justice system...

    Re: Jose Padilla Indicted (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:21 PM EST
    I have a feeling that there is very little hard evidence against him because the government fought so hard to stop him coming to trial.

    Re: Jose Padilla Indicted (none / 0) (#3)
    by Punchy on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:21 PM EST
    I don't understand how the gov't can now charge him with things wholly unrelated to their original statements... Two questions: can the gov't still claim "secret witnesses" and "secret testimony" in a criminal courtroom, and: What happens if/when he's released? Can he sue for wrongful (unConstitional!) "arrest", even though he was never formally arrested?

    Re: Jose Padilla Indicted (none / 0) (#4)
    by cpinva on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:21 PM EST
    this case seems to exemplify the current administrations total bafflement, with regards to the "war on terror". they've declared war, but they really haven't, on "terrorists" who they know when they see, maybe. they invaded two countries, but those people opposing them aren't really soldiers, deserving of the protections afforded by the geneva conventions, they're "terrorists", or "insurgents" or something. we know, but we don't have to tell anyone. what's worse is that DOJ has gone along with this crap, trashing of the constitution. now, backed into a corner, of its own making, it finds itself unable to offer any real evidence for all the claims it's made against this guy, for two years. granted, gonzales inherited this from ashcroft, but he's no better, as near as i can tell. oh, he did take down that ridiculous sheet from the statue, but aside from that..................

    Re: Jose Padilla Indicted (none / 0) (#5)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:22 PM EST
    So I notice ther isn't anything about 'dirty bombs' or any of the other invective used at the time. Remember Wen Ho Lee? The Muslim chaplin,Captain James Yee? The three Moroccan men in Detroit whose convictions were tossed out in September after the Justice Department admitted prosecutorial misconduct? Graduate student Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a Saudi national who was acquitted of federal terrorism charges.

    Re: Jose Padilla Indicted (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:22 PM EST
    One of the particularly notable elements of the kill, maim and kidnap charge is that no particular individual is identified as an intended victim in the indictment. The indictment is also notable in reciting a laundry list of apparently benign actions and statements and alleging that they were either in code, or were part of a larger effort to help other people do bad things under the cover of innocent organizations. The case poses significant First Amendment issues (particularly issues like when does acknowledging the value of violent struggle in general steps over the line and because specific and theatening enough to be a criminal offense) and significant issues of political characterization -- for example, one of the key elements of the charges against Padilla involves him going to Kosovo while the U.S. was bombing Serbia to provide financial aid to people in Kosovo (who, let us recall, were basically on the U.S. side in that war). It is also ironic that the administration seems unwilling to pursue Padilla in U.S. courts for actions allegedly intended for U.S. targets, but is willing to use U.S. courts for actions not directed in any way at targets which are either in the United States or associated with the United States or even really allied with the United States. Certain fundraising and propoganda materials in the U.S. are used to provide jurisidction, but the U.S. interest in these cases is pretty attenuated. These are the kinds of cases where the ordinary course of affairs would be to extradict the defendants to the countries where the object of the alleged conspiracy was to be carried out.

    Jose Padilla Indicted | 6 comments (6 topical)