Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Court considers whether terror law violates free speech - USATODAY.com

"Court considers whether terror law violates free speech

...The Humanitarian Law Project says it wants to support non-violent activities of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a militant separatist organization in Turkey known as the PKK, and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist group in Sri Lanka. The secretary of State's designation of those groups as "foreign terrorist organizations," dating to 1997, is not in dispute in the case, which was filed in 1998 and gained relevance in the post-Sept. 11 atmosphere.

"I want to help the Kurdish people develop non-violent means of resolving their conflicts and have their case be heard by the world's community," Fertig, 79, said in an interview. He said his lawyers have advised him to stop his efforts, which included showing Kurds how to bring human-rights complaints to the United Nations, because they could come under the rubric of "training" prohibited by the law."

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