Blackwater Seeks Gag Order

[kpete]

Source: The Nation

Blackwater Seeks Gag Order
By Jeremy Scahill

July 22, 2009

It became common practice during the Iraq occupation for the US State Department to work with private security companies like Blackwater to help facilitate giving what amounted to hush money to the families of Iraqis shot dead by private security contractors. In fact, Blackwater's owner, Erik Prince, discussed this practice when he testified in front of Congress in October 2007 and admitted to paying $20,000 to a Blackwater victim's family and $5,000 to another.

"We don't determine that value," Prince told Congress when asked how his company decides how much an Iraqi life is worth. "That's kind of an Iraqi-wide policy. We don't make that one."

Now, Blackwater (which recently renamed itself "Xe") is attempting to use other means to silence its victims. On July 20, the company's high-powered lawyers from Mayer Brown, which boasts that it represents eighty-nine of the Fortune 100 companies and thirty-five of the fifty largest US banks, filed a motion in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to impose a gag order on Iraqi civilians suing the company. The motion also seeks to silence the lawyers representing the families of Iraqis allegedly killed or injured by Blackwater in a series of violent incidents spanning several years. Four cases in the Washington, DC, area were recently consolidated before Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of Virginia for pretrial motions. After preliminary issues are resolved, each case is slated to be tried individually.

The July 20 motion, filed on behalf of Blackwater by Peter H. White of Mayer Brown, requests that Judge Ellis issue "an Order restraining extrajudicial statements relating to these cases by the parties and their counsel to ensure that all parties receive a fair trial and a decision from an impartial jury." The motion specifically seeks to prohibit statements to "the national and local news media."

Read more: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090803/scahill

[Vidar]

1. I'd prefer a death penalty for Prince & life sentences for the top execs.

[enviralment]

2. little exessive

lets wait and see if the gag order is nullified, which i believe it will be.

[Piewhacket]

5. huh? why is that excessive?

I may be opposed to the death penalty as a matter of principle,
but MOST think the death penalty appropriate for cold-blooded
murder.

I mean you send your guys out with instructions to kill anything they
encounter, man woman or child, combatant or civilian, then consider
yourself one of the good guys? That seems to be level of criminality
of monstrous proportions, and there seems to be no sign of remorse.

What makes you say 'little excessive'.

[mbperrin]

3. Just plain waterboarding for their lawyers, I think.

Although execution sounds awfully good.

No sarcasm intended or implied.

[ensho]

4. they are a neo con criminal organization

nt

[eilen]

6. I think it appropriate for Blackwater to pay a blood price on

who they murder. The survivors, the families need to be compensated for the loss of their earnings and contribution to the family and community. Merely imprisoning the individuals does not help the victim famiiy. Of course it difficult to assign a monetary value to a human life but in history, governments, communities have done it for centuries to compensate victims and give some meaningful burden to the guilty (money is stored time/labor value). However I think it should be set by a court of law and recorded as a matter of public record, not as a private "hush" money payoff. And the US government should not be footing the bill. Blackwater should train their personnel better if they want to hire themselves out as "professionals".

At any rate, their contract should be withdrawn. We are getting out of Iraq.

[formercia]

7. A 'Black' trial

What a mindset....