XPost: aus.legal, misc.legal, soc.culture.french   
   XPost: soc.culture.german, uk.legal   
   From: reality@check.it   
      
   > Blackwater Founder Implicated in Murder   
   >   
   > By Jeremy Scahill   
   > August 4, 2009   
   >   
   > A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a   
   > security operative for the company have made a series of explosive   
   > allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in   
   > Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may   
   > have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were   
   > cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former   
   > employee also alleges that Prince "views himself as a Christian crusader   
   > tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe," and   
   > that Prince's companies "encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi   
   > life."   
   >   
   > .   
   > In their testimony, both men also allege that Blackwater was smuggling   
   > weapons into Iraq. One of the men alleges that Prince turned a profit by   
   > transporting "illegal" or "unlawful" weapons into the country on Prince's   
   > private planes. They also charge that Prince and other Blackwater   
   > executives destroyed incriminating videos, emails and other documents and   
   > have intentionally deceived the US State Department and other federal   
   > agencies. The identities of the two individuals were sealed out of   
   > concerns for their safety.   
   >   
   > These allegations, and a series of other charges, are contained in sworn   
   > affidavits, given under penalty of perjury, filed late at night on August   
   > 3 in the Eastern District of Virginia as part of a seventy-page motion by   
   > lawyers for Iraqi civilians suing Blackwater for alleged war crimes and   
   > other misconduct. Susan Burke, a private attorney working in conjunction   
   > with the Center for Constitutional Rights, is suing Blackwater in five   
   > separate civil cases filed in the Washington, DC, area. They were recently   
   > consolidated before Judge T.S. Ellis III of the Eastern District of   
   > Virginia for pretrial motions. Burke filed the August 3 motion in response   
   > to Blackwater's motion to dismiss the case. Blackwater asserts that Prince   
   > and the company are innocent of any wrongdoing and that they were   
   > professionally performing their duties on behalf of their employer, the US   
   > State Department.   
   >   
   > The former employee, identified in the court documents as "John Doe #2,"   
   > is a former member of Blackwater's management team, according to a source   
   > close to the case. Doe #2 alleges in a sworn declaration that, based on   
   > information provided to him by former colleagues, "it appears that Mr.   
   > Prince and his employees murdered, or had murdered, one or more persons   
   > who have provided information, or who were planning to provide   
   > information, to the federal authorities about the ongoing criminal   
   > conduct." John Doe #2 says he worked at Blackwater for four years; his   
   > identity is concealed in the sworn declaration because he "fear[s]   
   > violence against me in retaliation for submitting this Declaration." He   
   > also alleges, "On several occasions after my departure from Mr. Prince's   
   > employ, Mr. Prince's management has personally threatened me with death   
   > and violence."   
   >   
   > In a separate sworn statement, the former US marine who worked for   
   > Blackwater in Iraq alleges that he has "learned from my Blackwater   
   > colleagues and former colleagues that one or more persons who have   
   > provided information, or who were planning to provide information about   
   > Erik Prince and Blackwater have been killed in suspicious circumstances."   
   > Identified as "John Doe #1," he says he "joined Blackwater and deployed to   
   > Iraq to guard State Department and other American government personnel."   
   > It is not clear if Doe #1 is still working with the company as he states   
   > he is "scheduled to deploy in the immediate future to Iraq." Like Doe #2,   
   > he states that he fears "violence" against him for "submitting this   
   > Declaration." No further details on the alleged murder(s) are provided.   
   >   
   > "Mr. Prince feared, and continues to fear, that the federal authorities   
   > will detect and prosecute his various criminal deeds," states Doe #2. "On   
   > more than one occasion, Mr. Prince and his top managers gave orders to   
   > destroy emails and other documents. Many incriminating videotapes,   
   > documents and emails have been shredded and destroyed."   
   > The Nation cannot independently verify the identities of the two   
   > individuals, their roles at Blackwater or what motivated them to provide   
   > sworn testimony in these civil cases. Both individuals state that they   
   > have previously cooperated with federal prosecutors conducting a criminal   
   > inquiry into Blackwater.   
   >   
   > "It's a pending investigation, so we cannot comment on any matters in   
   > front of a Grand Jury or if a Grand Jury even exists on these matters,"   
   > John Roth, the spokesperson for the US Attorney's office in the District   
   > of Columbia, told The Nation. "It would be a crime if we did that." Asked   
   > specifically about whether there is a criminal investigation into Prince   
   > regarding the murder allegations and other charges, Roth said: "We would   
   > not be able to comment on what we are or are not doing in regards to any   
   > possible investigation involving an uncharged individual."   
   >   
   > The Nation repeatedly attempted to contact spokespeople for Prince or his   
   > companies at numerous email addresses and telephone numbers. When a   
   > company representative was reached by phone and asked to comment, she   
   > said, "Unfortunately no one can help you in that area." The representative   
   > then said that she would pass along The Nation's request. As this article   
   > goes to press, no company representative has responded further to The   
   > Nation.   
   >   
   > Doe #2 states in the declaration that he has also provided the information   
   > contained in his statement "in grand jury proceedings convened by the   
   > United States Department of Justice." Federal prosecutors convened a grand   
   > jury in the aftermath of the September 16, 2007, Nisour Square shootings   
   > in Baghdad, which left seventeen Iraqis dead. Five Blackwater employees   
   > are awaiting trial on several manslaughter charges and a sixth, Jeremy   
   > Ridgeway, has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter and attempting to   
   > commit manslaughter and is cooperating with prosecutors. It is not clear   
   > whether Doe #2 testified in front of the Nisour Square grand jury or in   
   > front of a separate grand jury.   
   >   
   > The two declarations are each five pages long and contain a series of   
   > devastating allegations concerning Erik Prince and his network of   
   > companies, which now operate under the banner of Xe Services LLC. Among   
   > those leveled by Doe #2 is that Prince "views himself as a Christian   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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