"CIVIL LIBERTARIANS" OPPOSE PROTECTING JURORS AND ISRAELI WITNESSES FROM HAMAS

Plan for Israeli Agents To Use Disguises Challenged (NYSun)

A proposal to allow Israeli security agents to use "light disguise" while testifying in an American court is under fire from a left-leaning civil liberties organization, the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Muhammad Salah, 53, of Bridgeview, Ill., and Abdelhaleem Ashqar, 48, of Alexandria, Va., are scheduled to go on trial in October on charges they funneled money to the terrorist group that won Palestinian Authority elections in January, Hamas.

Last month, federal prosecutors asked that the courtroom be closed to the public when Israeli agents are called as witnesses, and to wear glasses or facial hair not part of their normal appearance. The prosecution also urged the judge to keep secret the names of jurors seated for the trial.

On Monday, a coalition of groups represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights asked to intervene in the case, arguing that the proposed security measures are unconstitutional.

"These Israeli agents, who supposedly need to testify and can't be seen, they've interrogated hundreds of Palestinians without disguises," a Chicago attorney working with the civil liberties group, Steven Saltzman, said in an interview. "I don't think there's much question that people know what they look like."

Prosecutors have argued that the security measures are needed to protect the witnesses' safety and to prevent Hamas from attacking jurors. "The international reach and operation of the Hamas organization suggest that it has the capacity to harm jurors," prosecutors wrote in court filing. They acknowledged that, thus far, Hamas has confined its attacks to Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank, but said Hamas has killed Americans and made threats against American interests.