AP's Bilal Hussein Freed From Detainment In His Third Year
 Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

This is not a current image...upon Bilal's release he wore a robe
and went straight to the arms of his family.

After being imprisoned at Camp Cropper by US Military in Iraq for over two years, 36-year old Pulitzer Prize-winning Associated Press photographer Bilal Hussein has been freed.  An Iraqi judicial panel dismissed the pending charges against him for alleged links to insurgents, and ordered that he be released from US custody.  On Monday, the US Military released a statement saying they no longer considered Bilal to be a threat.  Today, Hussein met tearful relatives at a checkpoint in Iraq, where he was released from a prisoner bus and given back his freedom.

"I want to thank all of the people working in AP...I have spent two years in prison even though I was innocent.  I thank everybody," Bilal said today.

Joel Simon, the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said "[Bilal] now joins a growing list of journalists detained in conflict zones by the U.S. military for prolonged periods and eventually released without any charges or crimes ever substantiated against them."

The Associated Press released the following statement:  "After two years in detention, Bilal Hussein needs time to spend with his family, to rest and catch up with the rest of the world.  We will have no further comment at this time, but will let you know when we do."

ConnieTalk.com has been following this story for quite some time, and we want to extend our congratulations and our heartfelt compassion to Bilal and his family, as well as the folks at the AP and FreeBilal.org who have worked so hard over these two years to draw attention to the detainment of a journalist who maintained his innocence throughout.  Bilal and his attorneys, friends, and colleagues faced enormous challenges to clear Bilal's name, as it took over a year for his first hearing in December of '07; and at that seven-hour, closed-door proceeding in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq before magistrate Dhia al-Kinani, it was the very first time  Hussein and his lawyers even saw the materials gathered by US military against him since his April 12, 2006 arrest in Ramadi.  How do you prepare a defense, even in innocence, against those odds?

Just to give you an idea of how long this has been going on, here are the articles and updates we've posted on this story.  The AP has a similar list  of their coverage that dates further back.

AP Photographer Imprisoned Over A Year In Iraq Sunday, October 21st, 2007 New Insight Into The Detainment Of AP Photographer Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 AP Photographer Bilal Hussein Gets His First Hearing Monday, December 10th, 2007 Bilal Still In Jail, Journalist For Canada's CTV Faces Same Fate Thursday, February 28th, 2008 AP Photographer Bilal Hussein May Finally Be Freed Thursday, April 10th, 2008 Bilal Has Been Granted Amnesty On Final Accusation As Third Year In Jail Begins Monday, April 14th, 2008 Wednesday, April 16th, 2008:  Bilal Hussein is free.

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