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Former detainee to speak at College of Law


November 14, 2008

James Yee, a former U.S. Army Captain and Muslim Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, will give a lecture on Nov. 21, at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law about his experience of being falsely arrested and imprisoned by the U.S. government.

The event will be from 6-8 p.m., in the Great Hall in Armstrong Hall, and is sponsored by the Muslim Law Students’ Association, with support from the ASU Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association.

Yee, a West Pointe graduate, received numerous awards during his 10-month tenure as chaplain before being falsely accused of spying, espionage and aiding alleged Taliban and Al-Qaeda prisoners. He was arrested, and locked in solitary confinement in a Navy prison for 76 days before being cleared and exonerated of all criminal charges. Yee resigned from the Army in 2005 with an honorable discharge.

The author of For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire, Yee will talk about his struggle to prove his innocence and how the war on terror has changed life in America. He will be joined by Phoenix attorney Howard Cabot, an adjunct professor at the College of Law, who has represented detainees.

The lecture will begin with a meal of Middle Eastern cuisine at 5:30 p.m. For more information, contact Raaes Mohamed at raeesabbas@gmail.com.