Hulleye Comes By!

anna ayala, the dodgy woman who claimed she bit into a finger in a bowl of wendy’s chili and was later arrested, acquired the body part “from an associate of her husband who lost the digit in an industrial accident,” reports the associated press. more from the AP:

“The jig is up. The puzzle pieces are beginning to fall into place,” Police Chief Rob Davis said.

The man is from Nevada and lost a part of his finger in an accident last December, Davis said. His identity was traced through a tip made to Wendy’s hot line, he said…

The man who lost the finger, whose name was not released, had given the finger fragment to (Ayala’s husband, Jamie) Plascencia, Davis said.

the picture that caused the outrage.

also here is a letter written by a friend to a pakistani newspaper about this whole affair.

Dear Sir,

This letter relates to your news item titled “LHCBA forms committee to sue WT” pubslihed on 12th May 2005. While the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) may be praised for the bold positions it has taken on various issues affecting the country, its decision to form a committee to sue the Washington Post (WP) for publishing what it terms a “deragotary” cartoon on 11th May 2005 is almost as regretable and wasteful as it is absurd. As a lawyer myself, a feeling of loyalty to my fellow lawyers mixes uneasily with a burning sense of ruthless introspection.

It has been reported that various members of the LHCBA have, as is often in keeping with our standard of discourse, demanded rather than debated, actions ranging from the LHCBA filing a case against the WP to Pakistan cutting off ties with the government of the United States over this cartoon. Why, I wonder, has a representative body of my proffession fallen to this intelluctual, ideological and legal nadir?

While some (or even many) may consider the depiction of Pakistan as a caricature of a canine to be offensive to their national pride, is such a caricature actually actionable in law by the LHCBA against the WP or as reported, against the Government of the United States of America?

The question of LHCBA’s existence of even a locus standi or standing would most likely to be deemed, by a court of competent jurisdiction, to be entirely absent. The right to freedom of speech is almost universally recognized. Almost all civilized nations, including Pakistan (atleast in principle) recognize the principle of freedom of expression, which often entails an uncomfortable acceptance of critical or disparaging comment.

The demand to snap diplomatic ties with United States on the basis of this cartoon is laughable. The WP is an independent newspaper and not a pronouncement of the US government.

My learned friends of the LHCBA would be better advised to follow the route of circumspection rather than chauvinism. Do Pakistani newspapers and publications have the right to proclaim the United States of America as “the great Satan” or hurl at it similar vitriolic invective? I venture to guess that a sizeable portion of our country and certainly that of the LHCBA may think so. Why should US newspapers be any different?

We do not show maturity, wisdom or strength by expending precious time and energy on such trivialities. What, after all, does it say about our country when our parliament, which is unable to pass a resolution condemning “honour killing”, is prompt and unanimous in passing a resolution condemning a cartoon?

Kamal K. Jabbar
Barrister-at-Law