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Journalism of Courage
Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Rana,friends from a military school in Pakistan and facing charges of conspiring 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks,have not been in contact with each other or met despite being in the same federal lock-up.
They are not in contact with each other at the Metropolitan Correctional Centre. They are not meeting or even eating in the same area, sources said.
Sources say with Headley cooperating in the investigation,authorities may not want to bring them together at court hearings or even at the MCC. Ranas lawyer Patrick Blegen said while he has known Headleys attorney John Theis for a long time,there is not much they can tell me and not much I can tell them.
Rana is held on a floor on the MCC,in downtown here, that is designated for people who have committed some offence within the institution.
He is under very strict rules. It is a very difficult situation and we are hoping that he can concentrate on assisting us in fighting the case since the MCC is not a great place to be, Blegen told reporters after the arraignment hearing at the US District Court,Northern District of Illinois.
Rana cannot move within the centre without a three-man hold he is escorted by three correctional officers wherever he goes. He is in a very small room all by himself for almost 24 hours a day. It is much more difficult to visit him than a typical inmate of the MCC, Blegen said.
So far only Ranas wife Samraz Akhtar Rana has been able to visit him. His three children have not visited him yet.
Blegen said that his client does not get much access to the law library as much as I would like but we are trying to deal with those issues with the MCC and they are doing their best to accommodate us. It is a difficult situation.
On how Rana is keeping up during the investigation,Blegen said,he is a pleasant man. He agrees with me on the not guilty plea. Rana is however now finding it difficult to pay for the legal fees. Blegen said Rana cannot afford to pay for his defence.
