Tue 13 Sep 2005
Letter to Post-Standard 9/13/05
Posted by k under Court Observers , Katherine's Writing , Media/Judge lettersNo Comments
(Published.)
From Katherine Hughes:
This is in response to Richard A. Lindsay’s letter of Tuesday, September 13th: Haikal Abu-Ghoush sat through most of the 17 week trial of Dr. Dhafir. Therefore his defense of Dr. Dhafir is not blind, it is based on first hand experience. Unlike Mr. Lindsay who did not even attend 5 minutes of the trial proceedings and relies on second hand information to make his assessment.
I attended this trial for 17 weeks, and I am convinced that Dr. Dhafir’s Iraqi descent and Muslim faith meant that he did not receive equal justice. Had his name been Ralph Duffy, I believe his treatment would have been much different. Dr. Dhafir has been held without bail for 31 months, and his ability to defend himself has been greatly compromised by this detention. I urge people in this community to ask for equal justice and a fair hearing for Dr. Dhafir. And I would encourage Mr. Lindsay to look at my website in order to broaden his store of first hand information on this trial: www.dhafirtrial.net
This case has never been about just Dr. Dhafir for me, it has always been about what is happening to civil liberties and the rule of law in this country at this time. My concern is motivated by 30 years of reading first hand accounts of Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. The recent verdict by 3 judges of the 4th Circuit Court in the Jose Padilla case means that the basic tenets of the American legal system, habeas corpus, due process and “the presumption of innocence”, no longer apply. The Bill of Rights is in tatters. I cannot understand why the American people are not concerned about this. I believe it is something that “we the people” urgently need to address. Fellow citizens, I urge you to act, if not for Dr. Dhafir, then for yourself.