MEDIA DENIED ACCESS TO ASYLUM HEARING FOR BAHRAINI PRINCESS

This week a federal judge ruled that the asylum hearing for a Bahraini princess can go forward without giving the media access to the proceedings.  Two newspapers and two TV stations had sought access to the hearing for Meriam Al-Khalifa, who entered the US using fraudulent documents.  She is seeking asylum on the ground that if returned to Bahrain, she will face persecution for marrying a non-Muslim.  She is a member of the Bahraini royal family.

Al-Khalifa met her US citizen husband when he was stationed in Bahrain with the US Marine Corp.  He supplied her with the forged documents she used when she entered the US.  For this, he was dropped in rank.  Since then, he has been discharged at his request.

Attorneys for Al-Khalifa are pleased with the judge’s decision.  They say that there are security issues involved in the case, and worry that too much exposure could result in harm to Al-Khalifa.  The media organizations have not yet decided whether to appeal the decision.

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