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Jet linked to torture claims is sold { December 9 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/12/09/jet_linked_to_torture_claims_is_sold/http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/12/09/jet_linked_to_torture_claims_is_sold/
Jet linked to torture claims is sold
Mass. firm had role in flying terror suspects to Egypt
By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff | December 9, 2004
A secretive Massachusetts- registered company involved in ferrying Al Qaeda suspects to Egypt, where they were allegedly tortured, has sold its private jet amid media reports about the plane's activities.
Premier Executive Transport Services, whose legal address is the Dedham law firm Hill & Plakias, sold the plane to a company in Oregon two weeks ago, shortly after the Globe asked the law firm about the plane's involvement in the covert transfer of two suspects to an Egyptian prison, according to documents filed with the Federal Aviation Administration.
News of the sale surprised human rights activists who are planning to stage a vigil at noon tomorrow outside the law firm to mark International Human Rights Day.
John Schuchardt, a member of the North Shore Coalition for Peace and Justice, said the group decided to gather in Dedham because ''if torture has a Massachusetts connection, Massachusetts citizens must go."
The fact that the plane has been sold out of state would not deter the protest, he said.
''This is just part of a larger struggle seeking to return this country to respect for law and respect for universal human rights," said Schuchardt, a Marine Corps veteran who resigned his post in 1965 because of opposition to US actions in Vietnam.
The Gulfstream jet, identified by registration number N379P, drew international attention after the Swedish government launched an investigation into the US-ordered covert transfer in 2001 of two Egyptian men, who later reported they were drugged by US agents and tortured with electric shocks during interrogation in Egypt.
One of the men, Muhammed Al-Zery, was later cleared of all charges, according to his Swedish lawyer. According to Human Rights Watch, the second man, Ahmed Agiza, was convicted of terrorism-related crimes and sentenced to 25 years in prison after what it called an unfair trial in a military court.
The plane, which is authorized to land at US military bases worldwide, also carried at least one other terror suspect from an airport in Pakistan in a covert practice known as extraordinary rendition.
The jet's new owner, a limited liability company called Bayard Foreign Marketing, is as reluctant as Premier was to provide basic information about the company or the intended use of the plane.
Scott Caplan, a lawyer whose Portland law office serves as Bayard's legal address, declined to answer questions about why Bayard bought the plane, who owns Bayard, or the year-old company's line of business.
''This is a client that does not want to be talked about," Caplan said.
When asked whether he knew about the plane's previous missions abroad, Caplan said he ''can't say," citing client confidentiality.
Premier's request to transfer the plane's registration to the Oregon company was filed Nov. 29, the same day the Globe published details of the plane's flights transferring prisoners to countries that use brutal interrogation techniques. The bill of sale also filed with the FAA indicates that the plane was sold Nov. 16.
Premier also sold its other plane, a Boeing 747, to Keeler and Tate Management, of Reno, Nev. Tyler Edward Tate, listed as an officer of that company, could not be reached for comment.
A Swedish television news program reported that the Gulfstream jet is on a long-term lease with an undisclosed branch of the US government.
In the 1960s and '70s, the CIA controlled a far-flung network of airlines that included about 200 planes and nearly 20,000 employees, making it roughly the size of TWA and one of the world's largest airlines at the time, Time magazine reported.
But in 1975, after the Iran- contra scandal, Congress pressured the CIA to sell its proprietary airlines, which included Intermountain Airlines and Air America, which flew in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
The CIA is now free to lease planes. Premier bought the Gulfstream in 1999 from the manufacturer. The plane has since logged about 300 trips, including to Libya, Uzbekistan, and Jordan, according to The Sunday Times of London.
© Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
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