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US government retreats on Padilla case
By Deborah Charles
12/10/05 -- -- WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The U.S. government, in
an unusual retreat, urged a federal appeals court on Friday to set
aside its ruling that allowed the United States to hold an American
citizen as an enemy combatant without being charged.
In a filing to the U.S. Appeals Court in Richmond, Virginia, Justice
Department lawyers said that since Jose Padilla -- who was held by
the U.S. military for more than three years as an enemy combatant --
has been indicted by a civilian court in Florida, the case regarding
his military custody was moot.
As a result, the government said the court should go ahead and set
aside its Sept. 9 ruling that allowed Padilla to be held by the
military without charge.
That ruling had been seen as a significant victory and a legal
precedent for the administration in its war on terrorism and its
controversial policy of holding enemy combatants in prison for long
periods without charges.
In the filing on Friday, the Justice Department lawyers also urged
the court to approve the request to transfer Padilla to civilian
custody so he can face trial in Florida. They said Padilla once
lived in Florida and became involved with the other people named in
his indictment there.
The appeals court had delayed Padilla's transfer to civilian custody
until the government explained why it used different facts to
justify Padilla's military detention from those included in last
month's indictment that charged Padilla with conspiracy to murder
and aiding terrorists abroad.
The government's filing said prosecutors had the right to limit
charges in the indictment, particularly if that would allow them to
avoid "sensitive evidentiary issues" that could implicate national
security.
The appeals court also asked for the government's and Padilla's view
on whether it should wipe out the Sept. 9 ruling in light of the
recent indictment.
The indictment did not refer to accusations against Padilla made by
U.S. officials after his arrest in May 2002, that he plotted with al
Qaeda to set off a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States.
U.S. officials later said Padilla had plotted to blow up apartment
buildings using natural gas.
Instead, the indictment only said Padilla and four other men had run
a U.S. support cell providing money and recruits for a jihad
campaign overseas.
"The fact that those charges involve different facts from those
relied upon by the president in ordering petitioner's military
detention is not consequential," the Justice Department lawyers
wrote. "The president's authority to detain enemy combatants during
ongoing hostilities is wholly distinct from his ability to charge
them for criminal conduct."
Human rights activists and some lawmakers have questioned the
government's authority to detain Padilla without charges
indefinitely as an "enemy combatant."
Padilla's lawyers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to limit this
authority. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the issue should
be moot before the Supreme Court since Padilla has now been charged
in civilian court.
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