Fai case referred to grand jury

From Lalit K Jha
Washington, Aug 13 (PTI) The case of Kashmiri separatist
Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, who has been charged with being an
undeclared agent of Pakistani spy agency ISI in the US, has
been referred to a grand jury which will determine if there is
enough evidence for a trial.
"The matter has been referred to the grand jury, so no
further hearings are scheduled pending action by the grand
jury," an official of the US District Court in Alexandria,
Virginia, told PTI.
A grand jury is traditionally larger than and
distinguishable from a 'petit' jury or the trial jury, which
is used during a trial.
Grand juries carry out their job by examining evidence
and issuing indictments, or by investigating alleged crimes
and issuing presentments.
The court official said it is the grand jury which will
determine if there is enough evidence for trial against Fai,
who is currently under house arrest with electronic
surveillance at his residence in Fairfax, an effluent suburb
of Washington.
Fai, who has been charged by the FBI, heads the
Washington-based Kashmiri American Council (KAC).
Meanwhile, following an appeal by the prosecution, the
Alexandria court hearing the case ordered that the defence
would not make any of the classified information public
without the consent of the court.
Assistant United States Attorney, Gordon D Kromberg, had
moved a motion for protective order, seeking an order by the
court to ensure that secret evidence and information in the
case are not disclosed by Fai's attorneys.

Kromberg said Fai has been charged by criminal complaint
with conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign principal
without registering with the Attorney General, and to falsify,
conceal, and cover up material by tricks, schemes, and
devices, in this matter. By foreign principal, Kromberg meant
the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan.
"In essence, the charge alleges that the defendant acted
as an unregistered agent of the Inter-Services Intelligence
Agency of the Government of Pakistan and made false and
misleading statements to government agents to conceal that
fact," the motion alleged.
Kromberg requested the court to ensure that the evidence
against Fai, which the federal prosecutors would share with
the defence attorney, are highly sensitive and secret, are not
disclosed by Fai's attorneys.
"This court must establish procedures to ensure that
there is no disclosure or dissemination of the classified
documents or information in this case, except as provided by
order of this court," Kromberg said in his motion which was
moved before the court on August 3.
Two days later, the court ordered that the defence would
not make any of the classified information public without the
consent of the court.
"The defence will store the declassified information in a
secure place and will use reasonable care to ensure that the
declassified information is not disclosed to third persons,
including the media, in violation of this agreement," the
court said in its order dated August 5.
"The defence shall not disclose any declassified
information to any person other than the defendant, witnesses
which they may be interviewing or preparing for trial, and
attorneys, law clerks, secretaries, translators, technical and
other experts, and investigators, involved in representation
of the defendant in this case," the court said.