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by Mauri' Saalakhan WASHINGTON (Islam Online) - In a case which should have had secret evidence monitors around the nation riveted, former Los Alamos nuclear scientist Dr. Wen Ho Lee was freed from nine months of solitary confinement after a settlement was reached on a plea bargain reducing the charges to one felony count of downloading nuclear weapons design secrets to a non-secure computer at the Los Alamos laboratory. Lee had originally been charged with 59 felony charges related to espionage. In an atmosphere of applause, mixed with tears and songs of joy, Lee returned to his suburban New Mexico community to a hero's welcome. In ordering Lee's release, U.S. District Court Judge James Parker issued a blistering rebuke of both the U.S. Department of Justice and the Department of Energy for "embarrassing our entire nation and each of us who is a citizen of it." He told Lee that as "a member of the third branch of government, the judiciary, the courts, I sincerely apologize to you for the unfair manner you were held in custody." Judge Parker expressed anger about being misled by the government's arguments that Lee was a threat to national security; as someone who had access to "the crown jewels" of U.S. nuclear secrets. Under the settlement, Lee agrees to undergo 10 days of further depositions in a continuing government attempt to discover what happened to the classified data that Lee downloaded to his personal computer. In response to a question posed by a reporter for National Public Radio, Steve Salzburg, professor of law at George Washington University, had this to say about the 59-count indictment against Lee: "In the detention process the judge doesn't do it count by count. The 59 counts say to the judge, 'Wow, this guy must be public enemy number one; he must be the guy who's stolen more secrets and done more damage than anybody else.' That's what the 59 counts do. And then in the detention hearing you have someone come in and say that 'he stole the family jewels.' "Judges are very conservative when it comes to national security, they view themselves as not having much choice when the government says you must lock this man up, because if you don't he may turn over the most precious secrets we have to some foreign government. [Upon hearing this] a judge generally complies." In return for a guilty plea to one felony count, the government dropped all other charges, including 40 counts of "acting with the intent to harm the United States." A conviction on just one count could have landed Lee in prison for life. |
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