Sailor Held in Secret for 4 Months- *facing espionage* & other charges

[chill_wind]

Petty Officer Held in Secret for 4 Months
Virginian-Pilot | August 04, 2006

NORFOLK - A petty officer has been in the Norfolk Naval Station brig for more than four months facing espionage, desertion and other charges, but the Navy has refused to release details of the case.

The case against Fire Control Technician 3rd Class Ariel J. Weinmann is indicative of the secrecy surrounding the Navy military court here, where public affairs and trial court officials have denied access to basic information including the court docket -- a listing of cases to be heard.

(see full article)

A docket listing Weinmann’s preliminary hearing, called an Article 32, was never produced. The Navy would not disclose when the hearing was held.

“That’s hogwash,” said Eugene R. Fidell, president of The National Institute of Military Justice and a Washington lawyer. “I know of no authority to keep the proceeding closed,” he said. “I’ve never seen an Article 32 classified.”

more details:
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,108661,00.html

Speculation by the Jerusalem Post:

Aug. 9, 2006 5:21 | Updated Aug. 9, 2006 5:26
Report: US sailor spied for Israel
By DAVID KEYES


http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525834949&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. Of course it was Isreal. If he were spying for, oh

Al Quaeda, it would be headline news.

[Richard Steele]

3. It's a little-known fact that we have uncovered more...

...ISRAELI spies than all other spies combined,
over the last 25 years.

Even in the last 10 years of the "Cold War", we found as many
Israeli spies as Soviet spies in any given year.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

6. Not little-known to anyone who is even remotely

aware of these things.

Also, there is always almost a complete silence in the media about these cases.

You have to go to "offbeat" places.

[Richard Steele]

7. Sadly, even 'remote awareness' is still a rare thing these days, IMNSHO.

The INTERNETS are a real GodSend in regard to
"going to offbeat places", but damn few folks
use them properly, or even understand their drawbacks.

Back when I was learning of these things, I actually
had to _GO_ to offbeat places!

And I have no regrets about that; quite the opposite.

I think the massive info-avalability which defines
the modern 'point-n-click' generation is more a TRAP than a TOOL.
They easily overdose on millions of shiny, surface-tension superficialities,
and never delve into the ugly wet MEAT of ANYTHING.

[chill_wind]

4. Per the JP piece, IF true...

"...it would be the biggest espionage case since Jonathan Pollard's arrest. Pollard, who worked as a civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy, was caught in 1985 and convicted of spying for Israel. He is currently serving a life sentence in the US."

[chill_wind]

2. More in the Dungeon

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=124&topic_id=142796&mesg_id=142803

[chill_wind]

5. Please recommend to keep this visible. You can't do that

from the dungeon. This is evolving U.S. news. Not I/P news and opinion to be filed away and sunk out of view as fast as possible.
In the meantime, let's not give people any justification to hit alert buttons. (That's getting very old. )

[mom cat]

8. US sailor spied for Israel

JPost.com » International » Article


Aug. 9, 2006 5:21 | Updated Aug. 9, 2006 9:36
Report: US sailor spied for Israel
By DAVID KEYES


A US Navy sailor, Ariel J. Weinmann, is suspected of spying for Israel and has been held in prison for four months, according to an article published Monday in the Saudi daily Al-Watan. It reported that Weinmann is being held at a military base in Virginia on suspicion of espionage and desertion.

According to the navy, Weinmann was apprehended on March 26 "after it was learned that he had been listed as a deserter by his command." Though initial information released by the navy makes no mention of it, Al-Watan reported that he was returning from an undisclosed "foreign country." American sources close to the Defense Department told Al-Watan that Israel was the country in question.

WAR IN THE NORTH: DAY 29
Many Tarshiha residents blame Israel for war
Analysis: Try envelopment instead of conquest
'Don't forget about our sons'
Women of Valor: Rabbis spar over IDF service for women
'I came back because I promised I would'
Kofi Annan to Hizbullah's rescue? by Anne Bayefsky
'Evangelicals the world over are praying fervently for Israel'
New! JPostMobile - live everywhere, and Top Headlines



"The US Navy concluded Article 32 proceedings in the case of Fire Control Technician Third Class Ariel J. Weinmann on July 26, 2006," Ted Brown, a media relations officer at the US Fleet Forces Command, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. The US Fleet Forces Command is the "convening authority of the case... and will make the decision with respect to what charges, if any, will be referred to a general court-martial."

The veracity of Al-Watan's claim that Weinmann is suspected of spying for Israel remains in question, and military and Pentagon spokesmen are remaining tightlipped. A public affairs officer at the Office of Naval Intelligence told the Post that he was unaware of the allegations against Weinmann.

Al-Watan speculated that if Weinmann spied on behalf of the Mossad, it would be the biggest espionage case since Jonathan Pollard's arrest. Pollard, who worked as a civilian intelligence analyst for the US Navy, was caught in 1985 and convicted of spying for Israel. He is currently serving a life sentence in the US.

more at:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525834949&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

When I first saw the first article, I posted my suspicions that this had to do with spying for Israel. This would be very inauspicious for Bush if the info really got out right now!

[QuettaKid]

9. KICKED and RECOMMENDED

as soon as I saw the guys name I knew it was for Israel.

[mom cat]

11. Me too!

[maddezmom]

18. updated link...Russia not Israel

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2446144

[Howardx]

13. i figured that was what the news blackout meant

n/t

[Scurrilous]

10. Russia Possibly Involved in U.S. Navy Spy Scandal

<snip>

"A U.S. sailor with access to sensitive military data has been charged with spying. According to the WAVY News website, Ariel Weinmann gave classified information to a “foreign government” in Vienna, and having confidential information visited Bahrain and Mexico. Navy officials did not say if Weinmann was dealing with those governments. The source also said that one of the countries involved in the spy scandal was Russia.

Now the suspect is detained in a Norfolk, Virginia brig.

As a fire control technician, Weinmann’s job was to fire the navy’s most sophisticated weapons off of one of its most heavily classified ships, the USS Albuquerque, a Los Angeles class submarine."

<snip>

"Sources in and out of the navy claim that at his rank, Weinmann would have had access to sensitive technical information, most likely about weapons like the tomahawk cruise missile."

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/08/09/navyspy.shtml

[chill_wind]

15. Either way, it appears the American MSM has a decided lack of interest.

"In an e-mail, Theodore Brown, a spokesman for Fleet Forces Command, said, “It is sometimes a challenge to balance the desires of the media, the public’s right to know, and the rights of an individual accused of a crime.”


Funny how that balancing act always tends to go between the Bush Pentagon and the American MSM.

I could close my eyes and hear these similar words of Condi Rice when she leaked/outted a guy named Khan (on background) to the MSM , stepping on the Kerry boost at the end of the Dem Convention 04. Seems our Ministry of Information is just full of these artful Deciders.


(...)

BLITZER: Let's talk about some of the people who have been picked up, mostly in Pakistan, over the last few weeks. In mid-July, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan. There is some suggestion that by releasing his identity here in the United States, you compromised a Pakistani intelligence sting operation, because he was effectively being used by the Pakistanis to try to find other al Qaeda operatives. Is that true?

RICE: Well, I don't know what might have been going on in Pakistan. I will say this, that we did not, of course, publicly disclose his name. One of them...

BLITZER: He was disclosed in Washington on background.

RICE: On background. And the problem is that when you're trying to strike a balance between giving enough information to the public so that they know that you're dealing with a specific, credible, different kind of threat than you've dealt with in the past, you're always weighing that against kind of operational considerations. We've tried to strike a balance. We think for the most part, we've struck a balance, but it's indeed a very difficult balance to strike.

more:

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0408/08/le.00.html

[0007]

12. We've been hijacked America....Wake the fuck up!

[chimpymustgo]

16. Wow. Just wow. Afraid to even say much.

But a lot of people with eyes and ears and brains are asking a few questions.

[chill_wind]

14. "Computer problems". Riiiight. Navy using extraordinary line of excuses

and rationales for secrecy.

"Beth Baker, a spokeswoman for the Navy Mid-Atlantic Region, has said that computer problems have made it difficult for the Trial Services Office at Norfolk Naval Station to generate a docket.

n two e-mails sent to The Pilot in January and February, Baker said the dockets should be available “soon.”

“The docket for the Trial Service Office has been transferred to a new system that is not user friendly to us at all,” Baker told The Pilot in a March e-mail.

More recent requests for the docket went unanswered."

This whole thing must be read to be believed.

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=108646&ran=180358

When I first saw the headlines "Petty officer held in secret for 4 months" I confess my thoughts turned quickly to the many Gitmo stories and extraordinary renditions.

In fact...

Dalglish and others said protecting someone’s privacy has never been a legally acceptable reason to exclude the public from a court proceeding or to withhold the identity of someone who’s been in custody for four months.

“We don’t lock up people in this country secretly,” Dalglish said. “Personal embarrassment has never been found to be a justification for closing a proceeding.”

[Scurrilous]

17. CNN Link:

Sources: Navy sailor suspected of spying for Russia

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/08/09/sailor.charge/

[Disturbed]

19. The Navy is protecting the Accused's privacy.

Uh, sure, I believe that. Yup.:eyes:

[chill_wind]

21. Well, we guess the CNN Pentagon isn't.

They find it important to leak what the Navy investigators won't.

[chill_wind]

20. Aug 9 update. It is not known.

Navy says sailor in brig stole laptop, gave out classified info

By KATE WILTROUT, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 9, 2006 | Last updated 11:51 PM Aug. 8

NORFOLK - After refusing to release full details on a pending espionage case involving a petty officer held in the Norfolk brig, the Navy on Tuesday provided some specifics about the charges.

(...)

It is not known to whom Weinmann is believed to have given classified information; Brown said he could not comment on further specifics.

story:

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=108896&ran=82404

Enter then the CNN Department of Defense, apparently feeling compelled after 4 or 5 days to say something after the JP and Virginia-Pilot stories.

"The Defense Department has said it believes Russia collected information about American intelligence in Iraq from U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar, in 2003."


Which conflicts with the Jerusalem Post/Saudi's alleged sources.


Interesting, either way.