Top U.S. officials can't be sued for post-9/11 abuse
Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 7:48 am
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/ ... CF20090518
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former U.S. attorney general and the FBI director cannot be subjected to a lawsuit by a Pakistani man claiming abuse while imprisoned in New York after the September 11, 2001, attacks the Supreme Court ruled on Monday.
The nation's high court overturned a ruling that Javaid Iqbal, who was held more than a year after the attacks, can proceed with his lawsuit against former Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Iqbal, a Muslim, said in the lawsuit that he had suffered verbal and physical abuse, including unnecessary strip searches and brutal beatings by guards. He said he had been singled out because of unlawful ethnic and religious discrimination.
(Reporting by James Vicini; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The former U.S. attorney general and the FBI director cannot be subjected to a lawsuit by a Pakistani man claiming abuse while imprisoned in New York after the September 11, 2001, attacks the Supreme Court ruled on Monday.
The nation's high court overturned a ruling that Javaid Iqbal, who was held more than a year after the attacks, can proceed with his lawsuit against former Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller.
Iqbal, a Muslim, said in the lawsuit that he had suffered verbal and physical abuse, including unnecessary strip searches and brutal beatings by guards. He said he had been singled out because of unlawful ethnic and religious discrimination.
(Reporting by James Vicini; Editing by Doina Chiacu)