IRAQ APPEALS COURT OVERTURNS US CITIZEN'S DEATH SENTENCE

February 29, 2008: an Iraqi appeals court overturned the conviction and death sentence of Mohammad Munaf, a US citizen and former translator charged with orchestrating the kidnapping of three Romanian journalists, held for 55 days in Iraq in 2005.
Munaf's lawyer said that the charges were dismissed after the court could not determine the role that Munaf and several other defendants played in the kidnappings from the evidence contained within the record.
Munaf has argued that the Iraqi trial violated his due process protections as a US citizen because he was not confronted with the evidence brought against him, and he was prevented from presenting his own exculpatory evidence. (Sources: Jurist, 01/03/2008)