New York – The prosecution of a businessman accused of enabling customers to receive satellite broadcasts of a Hezbollah television station is drawing scrutiny over how far the government can go in claiming someone is aiding terrorist groups.
Attorneys say the case of Javed Iqbal, who was arrested Wed nesday on conspiracy charges, is unusual because the charges stem from the distribution of news.
U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia alleges that Iqbal, a 42-year-old Pakistani from Staten Island, conspired to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law that bars direct financial aid to terrorist groups and the sales of products or services that could help such groups.
Some civil-liberties advocates say the prosecution appears to ignore exemptions in the law that cover distribution of news media – including wire feeds, tapes and photographs.
The charges accuse Iqbal of attempting to distribute Al Manar, purportedly a media outlet of Lebanon-based Hezbollah that features programming promoting the group. The U.S. government designated Al Manar a terrorist entity in March. Hezbollah, a leading Shiite network that engages in militant as well as political and social welfare activities, was classified as a terrorist group by the government in 1997.
“This is a prosecution for importing information, basically,” said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. “That raises serious First Amendment concerns because in a free society the exchange of information of ideas is at the core.”
Lieberman said the case was another example of the Bush administration’s push to expand its executive powers under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
But others following the case say the government must halt material support for terrorist groups, even if the transaction involves such activities as news dissemination.
Facilitating speech that advocates violence is not always protected by the First Amendment, said Andy McCarthy, a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
