IRAQ. U.S. CITIZEN SENTENCED TO DEATH

a US citizen who allegedly orchestrated the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists near Baghdad in 2005 was sentenced to death in an Iraqi court, prompting his lawyers to ask a federal judge in Washington to block the US military from transferring him to the Iraqi government.
Mohammad Munaf, 53, had been in US custody since May 23, 2005, when he was arrested during a military raid to rescue the Romanian journalists nearly two months after they were snatched. Authorities alleged that Munaf -- who had ushered the journalists into Iraq and was acting as their guide and translator -- posed as a kidnap victim but was actually involved in a conspiracy for ransom and led them into a trap. Military officials had said in sworn statements that Munaf confessed to elements of the crime and helped arrange the kidnapping.
Lawyers representing Munaf in the United States said that his conviction in the Iraqi court was a farce and that he was not allowed to present evidence or witnesses in his defence. In an emergency motion filed on October 13 in US District Court for the District of Columbia, Munaf's attorneys asked the US government to intervene and argued that Munaf made incriminating statements only after "threats of violence and sexual assault against him and his family."
Jonathan Hafetz, a lawyer at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's law school, filed a habeas corpus petition on Munaf's behalf and said US authorities had failed to properly ensure fairness in Munaf's trial in Iraq. He said handing Munaf over to the Iraqi government would mean certain execution without appropriate review of his case.