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British spies in U.S. terror trial must be faceless in sketches: judge
Source: Reuters
British spies in U.S. terror trial must be faceless in sketches: judge
BY NATE RAYMOND
NEW YORK Mon Feb 23, 2015 6:46pm EST
(Reuters) - Five British MI-5 officers expected to testify anonymously in wigs and makeup in the U.S. trial of an accused al Qaeda operative may be portrayed in courtroom sketches with only "blank faces" and "generic hair," a federal judge said on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie in Brooklyn, New York, ordered media sketch artists at the trial of Pakistani-born Abid Naseer to refrain from detailed portrayals of the officers with Britain's domestic counterintelligence agency, calling them "committed, lifelong operatives."
"The situation is grave," Dearie said in a court hearing.
The MI-5 officers are expected to testify Tuesday in the trial of Naseer, who the U.S. government says took part in a plot to carry out bombing attacks in the United States and Europe.
Prosecutors have called their testimony essential, saying their surveillance of Naseer from 2009 made them the only witnesses to activities he undertook to prepare for an attack in Manchester, England, which ultimately was never carried out.
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BY NATE RAYMOND
NEW YORK Mon Feb 23, 2015 6:46pm EST
(Reuters) - Five British MI-5 officers expected to testify anonymously in wigs and makeup in the U.S. trial of an accused al Qaeda operative may be portrayed in courtroom sketches with only "blank faces" and "generic hair," a federal judge said on Monday.
U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie in Brooklyn, New York, ordered media sketch artists at the trial of Pakistani-born Abid Naseer to refrain from detailed portrayals of the officers with Britain's domestic counterintelligence agency, calling them "committed, lifelong operatives."
"The situation is grave," Dearie said in a court hearing.
The MI-5 officers are expected to testify Tuesday in the trial of Naseer, who the U.S. government says took part in a plot to carry out bombing attacks in the United States and Europe.
Prosecutors have called their testimony essential, saying their surveillance of Naseer from 2009 made them the only witnesses to activities he undertook to prepare for an attack in Manchester, England, which ultimately was never carried out.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/23/us-usa-security-naseer-idUSKBN0LR29820150223