Defense lawyers for five former Blackwater contractors who allegedly shot into a crowd during an incident in Baghdad’s Al Nisur Square in 2007 want the press and the public excluded from oral arguments next month, Politico reports. The former contractors with the controversial firm are fighting to uphold a judge’s dismissal of the case against them related to the attack, which left 14 Iraqis dead. The judge ruled the case should be thrown out because of missteps by prosecutors.Federal prosecutors had charged that some of the former contractors had a pattern of abusive words or actions towards Iraqis, justifying the manslaughter charges that were dismissed by the trial judge. Prosecutors had originally wanted the appeals court session — scheduled for Feb. 8 — to be partially public and partially behind closed doors. But last week, they called that procedure unworkable and asked for the entire thing to be sealed.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=115548