Elite troops sue over Iraq abuse photos
March 23, 2005 - 1:01PM
Five US navy SEALs and the wife of one of the men have sued the Associated Press and a San Diego-based reporter, claiming the news organisation endangered their lives and invaded their privacy by publishing photos of the elite unit apparently abusing Iraqi prisoners.
The lawsuit, filed yesterday in San Diego federal court, marked a broader legal claim by the Coronado, California-based SEALs, who had earlier filed suit against the AP in state court after it published the 15 photos in December.
The photos depict SEALs posing with bloodied and bound prisoners apparently taken during raids on civilian homes.
AP reporter Seth Hettena reported that the photos, date stamped May 2003, were placed on the photo-sharing website Smugmug.com by a navy wife who said her husband brought them back from Iraq.
Dave Tomlin, assistant general counsel for the AP, called the legal claims by the SEALs "groundless".
"The pictures are of obvious public interest. AP obtained them in a completely proper way and was right to publish them," Tomlin said in a statement.
"These plaintiffs are trying to use a legal smokescreen to shift attention away from their own conduct and their own carelessness. ... I don't think they're fooling anybody."
AP's December 3 publication of the images prompted a military investigation into what appeared to be prisoner abuse. That probe "is still ongoing," a navy spokesman said today.
The federal lawsuit challenges the AP's assertion that the photos were readily available on a "commercial photo-sharing website" and accuses Hettena and AP of taking the photos from the "private album" without permission and putting the SEALs' lives and careers in danger by failing to conceal their faces.
At least two SEAL wives have received "harassing and threatening telephone calls", and Qatar-based Arab television station Al-Jazeera has repeatedly run photographs identifying the navy SEALs, the lawsuit said.
Another website instructs "Remember these faces" over a flashing image of the faces of several SEALs taken from the photos, the suit said.
The plaintiffs seek to block the AP from publishing the photos again without concealing the identities of the servicemen, and to prevent them from using the photos again.
The plaintiffs also demand unspecified damages.
A lawsuit filed on December 28 in San Diego Superior Court by six SEALs and two navy wives had accused AP and Hettena of invasion of privacy, presenting them in a false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The federal suit replaces the earlier lawsuit, which will be withdrawn so the plaintiffs can press an additional copyright infringement claim, lawyer James Huston said.
Huston also said that none of the photographs in question depicted cases of prisoner abuse. "These were normal special ops where they captured people who were resisting - and that sometimes results in people getting bloody lips," he said.
Reuters
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/23/1111525198539.html
March 23, 2005 - 1:01PM
Five US navy SEALs and the wife of one of the men have sued the Associated Press and a San Diego-based reporter, claiming the news organisation endangered their lives and invaded their privacy by publishing photos of the elite unit apparently abusing Iraqi prisoners.
The lawsuit, filed yesterday in San Diego federal court, marked a broader legal claim by the Coronado, California-based SEALs, who had earlier filed suit against the AP in state court after it published the 15 photos in December.
The photos depict SEALs posing with bloodied and bound prisoners apparently taken during raids on civilian homes.
AP reporter Seth Hettena reported that the photos, date stamped May 2003, were placed on the photo-sharing website Smugmug.com by a navy wife who said her husband brought them back from Iraq.
Dave Tomlin, assistant general counsel for the AP, called the legal claims by the SEALs "groundless".
"The pictures are of obvious public interest. AP obtained them in a completely proper way and was right to publish them," Tomlin said in a statement.
"These plaintiffs are trying to use a legal smokescreen to shift attention away from their own conduct and their own carelessness. ... I don't think they're fooling anybody."
AP's December 3 publication of the images prompted a military investigation into what appeared to be prisoner abuse. That probe "is still ongoing," a navy spokesman said today.
The federal lawsuit challenges the AP's assertion that the photos were readily available on a "commercial photo-sharing website" and accuses Hettena and AP of taking the photos from the "private album" without permission and putting the SEALs' lives and careers in danger by failing to conceal their faces.
At least two SEAL wives have received "harassing and threatening telephone calls", and Qatar-based Arab television station Al-Jazeera has repeatedly run photographs identifying the navy SEALs, the lawsuit said.
Another website instructs "Remember these faces" over a flashing image of the faces of several SEALs taken from the photos, the suit said.
The plaintiffs seek to block the AP from publishing the photos again without concealing the identities of the servicemen, and to prevent them from using the photos again.
The plaintiffs also demand unspecified damages.
A lawsuit filed on December 28 in San Diego Superior Court by six SEALs and two navy wives had accused AP and Hettena of invasion of privacy, presenting them in a false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The federal suit replaces the earlier lawsuit, which will be withdrawn so the plaintiffs can press an additional copyright infringement claim, lawyer James Huston said.
Huston also said that none of the photographs in question depicted cases of prisoner abuse. "These were normal special ops where they captured people who were resisting - and that sometimes results in people getting bloody lips," he said.
Reuters
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/23/1111525198539.html
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 3:07 AM
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