Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09RIYADH82
2009-01-13 14:41:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Riyadh
Cable title:  

SAUDIS MAKE SECOND REQUEST FOR PRESIDENTIAL

Tags:  CJAN KJUS OPDC PGOV PREL SA 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRH #0082/01 0131441
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 131441Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9813
INFO RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH IMMEDIATE 9977
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHMFIUU/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE 0269
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS RIYADH 000082 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP WROEBUCK AND JHARRIS, CA/OCS/CI, L; PASS
DHAHRAN; NSC FOR AP/HSCT WAINSTEIN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CJAN KJUS OPDC PGOV PREL SA
SUBJECT: SAUDIS MAKE SECOND REQUEST FOR PRESIDENTIAL
PARDONS

REF: 2008 RIYADH 1848

UNCLAS RIYADH 000082

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR NEA/ARP WROEBUCK AND JHARRIS, CA/OCS/CI, L; PASS
DHAHRAN; NSC FOR AP/HSCT WAINSTEIN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CJAN KJUS OPDC PGOV PREL SA
SUBJECT: SAUDIS MAKE SECOND REQUEST FOR PRESIDENTIAL
PARDONS

REF: 2008 RIYADH 1848


1. (U) The Saudi Arabian Government has for the second time
requested Presidential pardons for three Saudi nationals
currently imprisoned in the U.S. via a diplomatic note
received by the Embassy on January 11, 2009. An Embassy
translation of this note follows. The original will be
e-mailed to NEA/ARP.


2. (U) Begin text of diplomatic note:

URGENT

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia (Consular Division) presents its complements to the
Embassy of the United States of America in Riyadh.

With reference to the Ministry's note number 94/72/2/140335
dated 17/12/1429 (Dec. 15, 2008) listing names of Saudi
prisoners in the United States who wish to obtain
presidential pardon.

Attached herewith a copy of the news article published on
12/24/2008 about the presidential pardon for 19 prisoners in
the U.S. and statistics published by the U.S. Department of
Justice on 12/24/2008 detailing number of those issued
presidential pardon on 12/24/2008 amounting to 171 prisoners.

The Ministry appreciates your support of our request for
presidential pardon for Saudi prisoners in the United States.

The Ministry avails itself of this opportunity to renew the
assurances of its highest consideration.

End text of diplomatic note.


3. (U) Begin text of news article attached to diplomatic
note:

Bush issues presidential pardons to 19 prisoners, among them
those who helped Israel in the 1948 war.

Wednesday - Dec. 24, 2008

President Bush granted clemency to 19 people Tuesday,
including a man who was convicted of delivering planes used
by Israel in its 1948 war of independence and a real estate
developer whose father had donated tens of thousands of
dollars to the Republican candidates and the party.

Charles Winters who died in 1984, bought and transferred
three B-17 bombers to what would eventually become the
Israeli Air Force. He pleaded guilty to violating the
Neutrality Act and served jail time.

Another man who received a pardon - Isaac Robert Toussie, of

Brooklyn, N.Y.- pleaded guilty in 2001 to fraudulently
obtaining mortgages from the Department of Housing and Urban
Development. Public records show his father, real estate
broker Robert Toussie, has donated or helped raise more than
$35,000 for Republican candidates and the party.

Reginal Brown, an attorney who worked on the Winter's pardon,
said Mr. Bush's action "rights a historical wrong and honors
Charlie's belief that the creation of the Jewish State was a
normal imperative of his time. ...Charlie Winters helped
shape human history for the better."

Those who were pardoned Tuesday were convicted of crimes
ranging from drug offenses to mortgage fraud.

In addition to Mr. Winters and Mr. Toussie, those pardoned
were William Thomas Alvis III of Publishing, Ohio; John Allen
Aregood of Riviera, Texas; Eric Charles Blanks of Parker,
Colorado; Steve Doyle Cavender of the Villages, Florida;
Marie Elens Eppens of Lynden, Washington; Lydia Lee Ferguson
of Sun City, Arizona; Eduviges Duvi Gonzalez-Matsumura of
Clovis, California; George Clarence Greene Jr. of Gray,
Georgia; James Won Hee Kang of South Barrington, Illinois;
Alan Stephen Maiss of Reno, Nevada;
Richard Harold Miller of Tallahassee, Florida; Delano Abraham
Nixon of Neosho Rapids, Kansas;; John H. Ovewrholt of Black
Hawk, South Dakota; Morris Keith Parker of Georgetown, South
Carolina; Robert Truman Reece of Redondo, California; Donald
Edward Roessler of Harrison, Ohio; and David Lane Woolsey of

St. George, Utah.

Mr. Bush commuted the sentence of Reed Raymond Prior of Des
Moines, Iowa, who was sentences to life in prison for
possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

Mr. Winters is only the second person to receive a pardon
posthumously. Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of
the U.S. Military Academy of West Point, was drummed out of
the Army after white officers accused him of embezzling about
$3,800 from commissary funds. Mr. Flipper initially
discovered the funds missing from his custody and concealed
their disappearance from superiors, hoping the money would be
returned. President Clinton gave Mr. Flipper a full pardon
in 1999.

The list of those granted clemency Tuesday did not include
any high-profile criminals seeking pardon before Mr. Bush
leaves office in January.

Financier Michael Milken, known as the "Junk Bond King." is
seeking a pardon; commutations are being sought for former
Louisiana Governor Edwin W. Edwards; former Representative
Randy "Duke" Cunningham
-California Republican-; and Border Patrol agents Ignacio
Ramos and Jose Compean, who are serving prison sentences for
shooting a drug smugglers (dozen of lawmakers in Washington
have been pushing Mr. Bush to pardon the agents).

According to the Justice Department, former vice-presidential
aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., whose conviction last year
on obstruction of justice and perjury stemmed from an
investigation into the release of CIA operative Valerie
Plame's identity, has not applied for a pardon; but, Mr. Bush
has already commuted Libby's 30-month prison. A pardon can
be granted even if a pardon is not requested.

So far, Mr. Bush has granted 190 pardons and nine
commutations. That puts him far behind recent two-term
presidents Mr. Clinton granted 396 pardons and 61
commutations, while President Reagan granted 393 pardons and
13 commutations.

End text of news article attached to diplomatic note.
RUNDELL