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Bush told to stop wiretaps
17/08/2006 23:55 - (SA)
Detroit - A judge ordered the Bush
administration on Thursday to stop a domestic wiretap programme
it says protects Americans from terrorism, but which the judge
said violated their civil rights.
The administration, buoyed by polls showing Americans back
its handling of security and terrorism, appealed against the
federal court ruling, saying: "We couldn't disagree more."
US district judge Anna Diggs Taylor said the wiretaps
under a five-year-old "terrorist surveillance programme" violated
freedom of speech, protections against unreasonable searches
and a constitutional check on the power of the presidency.
"There are no hereditary kings in America and no powers not
created by the constitution," Taylor said in a 44-page ruling.
The national security agency programme has been widely
criticised by civil rights activists and raised concern among
lawmakers - including some in President George W Bush's own
Republican Party - who say he may have overstepped his powers.
Bush authorised the NSA programme after the 9/11 attacks
on the United States, and it became public last year.
The programme allows the government to eavesdrop on the
international phone calls and e-mails of US citizens without
obtaining a warrant, if those wiretaps are made to track
suspected al-Qaeda operatives.
"We have confidence in the lawfulness of this programme,"
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said after Thursday's
ruling. "That's why the appeal has been lodged."
A justice department statement called the programme "an early
warning system to detect and prevent a terrorist attack."
Officials said last week a foiled plot to blow up airliners
from Britain underscored the need for secret surveillance.
- Reuters
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