Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Arrested filmmaker has left U.S.
From The Hindu
Vijay Kumar, the Indian filmmaker arrested in the United States and jailed for 20 days for carrying brass knuckles and “Jihadi literature” in his baggage, has left the U.S. for India, his lawyer has confirmed.
Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday evening Mr. Kumar’s attorney, Grant Scheiner, said “Mr. Kumar is safely out of Houston.” He hoped that appropriate action would be taken to ensure that such an event did not occur again in the future.
Mr. Kumar’s departure from Houston marks the culmination of a difficult few weeks for him. Trapped in the U.S., initially under suspicion of terror related activities although his intentions were entirely benign, Mr. Kumar faced an ordeal in a Texas jail, where he had to subsist on only bread and water. He also had no certainty as to when he would be released.
Mr. Scheiner had earlier said that Mr. Kumar’s arrest was a mistake of law combined with excessive caution in a post-9/11 era, and as a result he had been slapped with both a criminal case, for possessing the brass knuckles, and an immigration case, after his visa revoked by the immigration authorities.
While Mr. Kumar had unwittingly violated a Texas law forbidding persons from carrying brass knuckles at airports, he had entirely abided by federal law on this matter. The real problem, his attorney earlier said, was that federal law was not consistent with the state law.
The suspicions of terror-related activities also turned out to be entirely unfounded, with the ironic twist that Mr. Kumar’s so-called “Jihadi literature” was material that Mr. Kumar was carrying for use during a lecture he was set to deliver to the Hindu Congress of America on interfaith discussion between Hindus and Muslims and the harms of terrorism.
Vijay Kumar, the Indian filmmaker arrested in the United States and jailed for 20 days for carrying brass knuckles and “Jihadi literature” in his baggage, has left the U.S. for India, his lawyer has confirmed.
Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday evening Mr. Kumar’s attorney, Grant Scheiner, said “Mr. Kumar is safely out of Houston.” He hoped that appropriate action would be taken to ensure that such an event did not occur again in the future.
Mr. Kumar’s departure from Houston marks the culmination of a difficult few weeks for him. Trapped in the U.S., initially under suspicion of terror related activities although his intentions were entirely benign, Mr. Kumar faced an ordeal in a Texas jail, where he had to subsist on only bread and water. He also had no certainty as to when he would be released.
Mr. Scheiner had earlier said that Mr. Kumar’s arrest was a mistake of law combined with excessive caution in a post-9/11 era, and as a result he had been slapped with both a criminal case, for possessing the brass knuckles, and an immigration case, after his visa revoked by the immigration authorities.
While Mr. Kumar had unwittingly violated a Texas law forbidding persons from carrying brass knuckles at airports, he had entirely abided by federal law on this matter. The real problem, his attorney earlier said, was that federal law was not consistent with the state law.
The suspicions of terror-related activities also turned out to be entirely unfounded, with the ironic twist that Mr. Kumar’s so-called “Jihadi literature” was material that Mr. Kumar was carrying for use during a lecture he was set to deliver to the Hindu Congress of America on interfaith discussion between Hindus and Muslims and the harms of terrorism.
Labels: Indian filmmaker, judiciary, Vijay Kumar
# posted by Narayan Lakshman @ 5:07 AM 
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