Still No Word On Bilal

What really transpired at the seven-hour Bilal Hussein hearing Sunday? We still don't know. Judge Dhia al-Kinani ordered the hearing, held in the Central Criminal Court in Iraq, kept secret. No details have leaked out. In a court famous for swift decisions, there has been no announcement on whether Hussein will go to trial. The Associated Press, after spending many, many words drumming up support for its photographer, has gone strangely quiet (other than to say it "continues to believe that Bilal Hussein was a photojournalist working in a war zone and that claims that he is involved with insurgent activities are false.")

In an effort to read between the lines, I spoke today to Ra'id Juhi Hamadi Al-Saíedi, an Iraqi judge who is now a fellow at Cornell University Law School. Did anything about this case stand out to him? No. It would not be unusual, he said, for a CCCI hearing to run for several hours in an "important" case. It's likely that the judge, lawyers and defense council had a lot of questions. Nor is it unusual for an investigative session like this one to be closed. If the judge decides to refer the case to a trial, however, that trial should be open. Al-Saíedi is himself a former CCCI judge and was a chief investigative judge of the Iraqi High Tribunal.

Elsewhere...

- The Committee to Protect Journalists sounded off Monday on the case:

"After almost 20 months in detention, Bilal Hussein finally had his day in court," said CPJ Senior Middle East Program Coordinator Joel Campagna. "But the proceedings are still shrouded in secrecy, raising fears that he will not get a fair trial. Hussein must have an open hearing, and his lawyers must be given access to all evidence against him."

CPJ has also produced a helpful list of other journalists who have been detained in Iraq.

- The conservative blogosphere has weighed in as well, with this story by Jim Hanson on the blogger network Pajamas Media: Pulitzer Prize in Terrorism?

PDN will continue to follow this story. You can read our recent profile of Bilal here: The Man From Fallujah. And here is some background on the court: Bilal Hussein Will Face Overloaded And Rushed Court System.