US judge: American caught fighting for IS must be given lawyer

WASHINGTON — A federal judge rules that the US military must provide legal counsel to an American citizen who was picked up months ago on the Syrian battlefield and accused of fighting with Islamic State.

The unidentified American, who has not been charged, surrendered to US-backed fighters in Syria around September 12 and is currently being held in Iraq as an unlawful enemy combatant.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a court petition challenging his detention and asking to act on his behalf to provide him access to legal counsel.

Late last month, the US government acknowledged that it has detained an American citizen accused of fighting with IS for months without fulfilling his request to see a lawyer.

In her ruling, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan denies the Defense Department’s motion to dismiss the matter and ordered the military to let the ACLU “immediate and unmonitored access to the detainee” so that it can determine whether he wants the ACLU to represent him. The judge also orders the Defense Department not to transfer the detainee until the ACLU tells the court of the detainee’s wishes.

“This is a landmark ruling that rejects the Trump administration’s unprecedented attempt to block an American citizen from challenging his executive imprisonment,” says Jonathan Hafetz, senior staff attorney for the ACLU. “Ensuring citizens detained by the government have access to a lawyer and a court is essential to preserving the Constitution and the rule of law in America.”

— AP