Appeals court denies Iraqi duress defense

DETROIT (AP) -- A federal appeals court has upheld a decision not to allow a Detroit area man accused of supplying information to Iraq before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to use duress as a defense. The ruling was filed last week in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Najib Shemami was sentenced in 2009 to nearly four years in prison. A U.S. District Court judge rejected his claim that he acted under duress from Saddam Hussein's government. The appeals court ruled in part that Shemami offered no explanation why he continued making trips to Iraq after claiming that country's intelligence service had harassed him. The Iraqi native moved to the United States in 1970. He was a frequent traveler from 1996 through 2002, smuggling money, medicine and clothing into Iraq. Published: Tue, Apr 5, 2011