APRIL 5, 2005
Posted October 18, 2005
Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein, CBS News
IMPRISONED
Hussein, an Iraqi cameraman working for CBS News, was taken into custody after being wounded by U.S. forces’ fire on April 5 while he filmed clashes in Mosul in northern Iraq. CBS News reported at the time that the U.S. military said footage in the journalist’s camera led them to suspect he had prior knowledge of attacks on coalition forces. AFP also cited U.S. officials as saying the journalist “tested positive for explosive residue.” No charges were made public and the evidence was classified.
The New York Times reported that the U.S. military referred Hussein’s case to Iraqi justice officials who reviewed Hussein’s file but declined to prosecute him. U.S. military officials, meanwhile, stuck to vague accusations that Hussein was “engaged in anti-coalition activity,” and that he had been “recruiting and inciting Iraqi nationals to violence against coalition forces and participating in attacks against coalition forces.” Military officials did not provide any evidence to support these accusations.