U.S. Code 22, Chapter 23, Section 1732. Release of citizens imprisoned by foreign governments
Whenever it is made known to the President that any citizen of the United States has been unjustly deprived of his liberty by or under the authority of any foreign government, it shall be the duty of the President forthwith to demand of that government the reasons of such imprisonment; and if it appears to be wrongful and in violation of the rights of American citizenship, the President shall forthwith demand the release of such citizen, and if the release so demanded is unreasonably delayed or refused, the President shall use such means, not amounting to acts of war and not otherwise prohibited by law, as he may think necessary and proper to obtain or effectuate the release; and all the facts and proceedings relative thereto shall as soon as practicable be communicated by the President to Congress.
The above has been recommended by the author of the book on Scott Speicher:
No One Left Behind: The Lt. Commander Scott Speicher Story
Amy Waters Yarsinske
Amy Waters Yarsinske, a former intelligence officer and Pulitzer Prize-nominated author, breaks the incredible true story of Lt. Comdr. Michael Scott Speicher, the first American pilot shot down during the initial air strike of the Persian Gulf War. Tracking this explosive story for the past eight years, Yarsinske interviewed top government and military officials, diplomats, pilots, informers, and Iraqi defectors to write a stunning account of the denials and cover-ups that obscured an essential fact: Speicher actually survived and has been in Iraqi custody eleven years after the US government left him for dead.
The author has worked eight years on the Speicher case--and now we have President Bush raising the Speicher case before the world. The author now advises that the above statute, used in the Speicher case, may now be used in the Maher case, which she is following.
The recently held trial produced no surprises or changes in the status quo. Ted Maher dutifully parroted the extorted false confession, as the alternative was immediate life imprisonment--this was told to him by his Monaco-assigned lawyers Georges Blot and Donald Manasse.
By Monaco law, Ted Maher was allowed to choose the lawyer to represent him at trial, and he chose Michael Griffith. Monaco tried to block Griffith's appearance, but Congresswoman Sue Kelly in conjunction with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House International Relations Committee brought the matter to the attention of Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Monaco fought to keep exculpatory evidence suppressed, and based its case on manufactured incriminating evidence. This is a matter of record available for review.
The evidence of Dr. Michael Baden, the acclaimed forensic DNA expert, was limited to 30 minutes, and matters of prime importance were suppressed, e.g., Edmond Safra had unidentified male DNA under his nails, and his blood was spattered on Vivian Torrente's bra, panties, and barrette/nursing cap. Vivian Torrente died of strangulation, not asphyxiation.
The forensics will be brought to the fore in the suit against the widow and others by the son and daughter of Vivian Torrente.
The general conduct of the trial has provided ample grounds for appeal, e.g., the abuse of defendant Ted Maher by Monaco guards in the persistent awakenings every 20 to 40 minutes despite defense objections.
It is in the nature of police states to deem themselves the be-all and end-all of all things politic. Delusion has never protected their diktats from being reversed by the world at large, and in this case, the intercession of regional authority and the national authority of the defendant's country.
American prisoners in North Korea were forced to confess to germ warfare they never committed, by means of the combination of pressures and techniques termed brainwashing.
Americans held by the North Vietnamese were likewise under insidious and unbending efforts to extort false confession of war crimes.
Ted Maher has been forced to sign a false confession by means of physical torture, sleep-deprivation and threats upon his family.
His case is more than a miscarriage of justice. It is an outrage by a foreign power on an innocent American and honorable veteran.
The so-called evidence does not bear examination.
Three Years.....(Rm # 101).....Three Years!
Bump for Ted Maher and his loving family......In Jesus' Precious Name, Amen.
President Bush: Forthwith demand the release of Ted Maher Now!