Rana and the Nazi Defense

When I heard that Rana, who is going to be tried in the US for his role in 26/11, tried to use the “I did something at the behest of a government or its official authority” defense, I was surprised that there is even such a provision in American law. And here I thought that this kind of “I was just following orders” defense was thrown out ever since the Nuremberg trials of the Nazis! But since the law exists, does it mean anyone caught spying in the US can walk free because he worked for the Chinese or Russian government?!


Talking of Nazis, guess where one of the IC-814 hijacking masterminds was recently arrested? In Chile. A South American country. The same continent where many Nazis “vanished” after World War II.


And once you think of Nazis, the next thought is inevitably about Israel. The Israelis went into South America and kidnapped a top Nazi. Sadly, our government will only make never-going-to-be-fulfilled requests for extradition in a similar situation…

Comments

  1. KumarApril 14, 2011 at 7:28 PM

    Your opinion regarding the provision in American law [quoting you: "Rana, who is going to be tried in the US for his role in 26/11, tried to use the “I did something at the behest of a government or its official authority” defense, I was surprised that there is even such a provision in American law."]is not what was given in the paper I read. The paper said that the American court observed that "while it has taken note of the point taken, that defense was not admissible in the law".

    Yes, Indians do not act the way the Israelis do - agreed. For the Israelis (or Jews in general so to speak) to have the attitudes they hold in such circumstances has the basis of unity found in that society. In India that kind of unity is not there today, which will limit some actions. I suppose, over the decades, we can hope for changes. We have to have the strength to stand up against those who are doing harm to everyone living in this land.

    In a way, so many things have started going wrong that the Indian society will not be able to continue debating options, instead of choosing actions with determination and courage.

    I would prefer that the basis for action comes from a coolheaded mind too, not just fanatical mindlessness at the cost of all values, which is what all the terrorists do. The fanatics have great ability for self-destruction (they can never think even one single thought constructively!) and we must smartly lead them to that deserving destiny of theirs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Viswanathan K.April 15, 2011 at 10:10 AM

    That's not correct: The US court acknowledged that Rana’s argument that he is entitled to a Public Authority Defense because he acted under the authority — whether actual or apparent — of the Pakistani government and the ISI.

    But the US court rejected the defense saying, 'Defendant cannot rely on the authority of a foreign government agency or official to authorize his violations of United States federal law.'

    In other words, the US court didn't say the defense was invalid per-se, just that he couldn't violate other US laws while claiming this defense.

    See this or other sites for details
    http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/7958954.cms

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Student of the Year

Image
As a toddler, my daughter loved Alia Bhatt’s songs, esp. the ones from Student of the Year . (That movie did have many good songs and well-choreographed dances). Fast forward to present day, when she is 12 yo. She rarely watches Hindi movies now, but one of the few ones she likes of late, Raja aur Rani ki Prem Kahani has, yes, Alia Bhatt.   If I had any hopes that there was anything to be read in the name of her toddler-time favorite ( Student of the Year ), they have been dashed. Our conversations come exam time are perfectly captured by this photo and its caption: In fact, the pic below captures how she and I look at her answer sheets – me intently, she with an expression of “It’s over, so why are you even looking at it?”   Of late, we pull her leg and tell her that she isn’t showing any signs of academic prowess, she’d better find a rich guy to marry. Some time later, she showed us this meme on the Internet: “Me No Study, Me No Care Me Go Marry Millionaire If He Die
Read more

Animal Senses #7: Touch and Remote Touch

Instinctively, we think touch is based on contact. Not entirely true, explains Ed Yong in Immense World – there’s a more important aspect than contact: “These incredible feats are possible through movement. If you rest a fingertip upon a surface, you can get only a limited idea of its features. But as soon you’re allowed to move, everything changes. Hardness becomes apparent with a press. Textures resolve at a stroke.” As you run your fingers over a surface, they hit the tiny peaks and troughs and set off vibrations in the mechanoreceptors at their tips.   At the tip of its snout, the star-nosed mole has many pairs of hairless appendages. It uses them to touch things around itself. Alive or dead? Food or ignore? It does these movements at an insane speed. In the time it takes to blink our eyes, the star-nosed mole can probe, identify and swallow its food. “Light may be the fastest thing in the universe, but light sensors have their limits, and the star-nosed mole’s sense of
Read more

The Retort of the "Luxury Person"

Image
Coming up with biting and witty retorts. It’s something we dream of, but rarely manage to pull off. Worse, the more we stew over the offending remark, the more likely we are to come up with that dream retort, as Calvin ruefully points out: During our last holiday at the Taj Resort, seeing my wife carrying towels to our poolside chairs, one of the kids there mistook her for a member of the staff and asked for a towel. When my wife narrated this to us, I did not imagine that my 8 yo daughter would come up with her own retort. But a day later, my daughter recapped the incident, an incident that didn’t even involve her in the first place , and said, “You know what I’d have told that kid who asked for the towel?”. And without waiting for an answer, she told us anyway: “I don’t work here. I too am a luxury person who is living at this resort. Go get your own towel.” We were highly amused by the phrase she had coined: “luxury person”. It certainly captures the kind of holid
Read more