CBS Cameraman Acquitted in Iraq

Citing insufficient evidence, a three-judge Iraqi court has dismissed charges of insurgent activity against Abdul Ameer Younis Hussein, a CBS cameraman detained and held by the U.S. military for nearly a year after he filmed the aftermath of a bombing in Mosul:

Scott Horton, one of his American lawyers, said the U.S. military claimed Hussein had prior knowledge of the car bombing and celebrated with other Iraqis in the aftermath, chanting “God is Great!”

But prosecutors acknowledged there was not enough evidence and moved to drop the case.

In testimony to the panel, Hussein said he was filming a celebration at a university in Mosul in April 2005 when he heard a car bomb explode. He said he called a colleague at a French news agency to find out more about the location, then raced to the site in a taxi.

He encountered American troops surrounding the area and waited until they cleared to go in and film, he said. After getting some footage, he said he heard people start yelling there were snipers in the area and he felt a shot.

“They shot me in the hip,” he said of the American troops. “I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t.”

After five minutes, troops arrived and took him to the hospital.

“All the time they were cursing me, and calling me a terrorist,” he said. “I kept saying, ‘I’m not a terrorist. I’m a correspondent.'”

The U.S. military alleged that Hussein was standing near a man waving a gun and inciting the crowd after the bombing. Hussein denied that.

Kudos to the Iraqi prosecutors and judges for taking their obligation to do justice seriously — although this description of the scene in the courtroom is more than a little troubling:

The defendant, who wore a yellow jumpsuit, was not permitted to speak to reporters. Between appearances on the witness stand, he had to kneel on the floor in the back of the courtroom, facing a wall. A half-dozen American soldiers in full body armor stood nearby, guarding him and other Iraqi defendants, who also faced the wall.

This was not a jury trial, so common-law concerns of jurors inferring guilt from the precautions taken to restrain the defendant were not present. But there have to be better ways to protect the judges and lawyers from possible harm.