U.S. calls on Syria to release young blogger | Reuters

(Reuters) - The United States condemned Saturday what it said was Syria's "secret trial" of a young blogger and called for her immediate release, saying allegations of U.S. espionage connections were baseless.

"The United States strongly condemns Syria's secret trial of blogger Tal al-Molouhi," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in a statement, saying baseless allegations of U.S. connections had resulted "in a spurious accusation of espionage."

"We call on the Syrian government to immediately release all its prisoners of conscience; and allow its citizens freedom to exercise their universal rights of expression and association without fear of retribution from their own government," he said.

via www.reuters.com

First things first - I am fully supportive of our call to free Tal al-Molouhi and I abhor the use of any secret legal proceedings.  Furthermore, while I don't know much about spies outside of Robert Ludlum and Tom Clancy novels, it seems to me rather unlikely that a high school student would be a spy.

But if the Syrians suspect al-Molouhi of this crime then allow the trial to be a public proceeding with all the necessary safeguards(including those additional ones needed to protect minors).  With a secret trial the Syrian public and the world has no way of knowing whether the proceedings were fair or not.

It's situations like this where the diminution of our (America's) moral authority hurts.  Our use of secret evidence, closed trials, military trials, use of sealed evidence, limited cross examinations of foreign operatives who give evidence for the government's case in chief and the collection of evidence through unconstitutional means are some of the things America has been doing more and more of in the 1990s onwards (and particularly egregiously after 9/11/01).

Even on our worst days I think America's standards for justice are better than Syria's, but the perception of the proverbial "pot calling the kettle black" taints our messages.

Hopefully, with the winds of change gusting in the Middle East, Syria will re-think its actions and reverse course on what its done to Tal al-Molouhi.