JEDDAH, 19 August — Esam Hamdi, father of Yasser, a Saudi American jailed at Norfolk, Virginia, has described Friday’s ruling by a US judge as a positive step that would eventually help his son meet a lawyer and protect his rights.
Judge Robert Doumar of the federal district court in Norfolk ruled that US prosecutors must provide evidence to continue to detain the US citizen alleged to have ties with Taleban without charges or access to a lawyer.
"The case appears to be the first in American jurisprudence where an American citizen has been held incommunicado and subjected to indefinite detention ... without charges, without any finding by a military tribunal, and without access to a lawyer," Doumar wrote.
He added: "We must protect the freedoms of even those who hate us, and that we may find objectionable. If we fail in this task, we become victims of the precedents we create."
The US government has fought to keep Hamdi in indefinite detention, arguing that he is an enemy combatant. Analysts have described the court ruling as a big blow to the US government.
"The federal district court ruling is a positive development. It will allow my son to meet a lawyer, know his rights and prove his stand," Yaser’s father told Arab News.
"They have arrested him as an enemy combatant. Accordingly, they did not allow him to meet a lawyer. But they have not leveled any accusations against him," he added.
According to Esam, Yasser was arrested in Afghanistan while engaged in charitable activities. "He was not fighting for the Taleban," Yaser’s father said in a letter to US Congress.
Doumar has ordered US officials to produce more detailed information justifying why it has given Hamdi this designation.
Hamdi was born in Louisiana to Saudi parents and moved to Saudi Arabia with them as a child. After his capture in Afghanistan, the US military detained Hamdi first in Cuba and then in a military jail at the Norfolk, Virginia Naval Station brig.
Doumar wrote that he needed to review statements Hamdi made to interrogators, as well as the "screening criteria" used to determine Hamdi’s status, and the names and addresses of those who made the determination.
Doumar has previously asked the US government to produce those records, but the government has refused, citing national security risk.
Esam Hamdi and a lawyer had tried to meet Yaser but US authorities prevented outsiders from visiting him. Yaser, who was brought up in Saudi Arabia, has not been accused of committing any crime.
