Houston judge keeps India man behind bars

[peejay 327]

Judge won't set bail for India filmmaker

Traveler accused of illegally carrying brass knuckles

By BRIAN ROGERS

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Sept. 2, 2010, 8:50PM

A documentary filmmaker from India who relied on the Department of Homeland Security's travel rules will remain behind bars without bail on federal immigration charges until allegations he was illegally carrying brass knuckles in his checked airport baggage are resolved, a judge ruled Thursday.

On his way to Canada on Aug. 20, Vijay Kumar was detained by airport security who said he was acting suspiciously and had "jihadist" literature in his luggage. A search turned up brass knuckles, which are illegal in Texas, prosecutors said.

Kumar's attorneys said he was invited to Houston to participate in a Hindu organization's conference on the recruiting techniques of Islamic fundamentalists. The books, including a manual for a handgun, were educational tools, his attorney, Grant Scheiner said.

The misdemeanor was upgraded to a third-degree felony because he is accused of having the brass knuckles in an airport, the attorney said.

"Now, he has to stay locked up for a misdemeanor, essentially," Scheiner said. "There are a lot of people signing petitions, and we're trying to get the message to the district attorney's office that Vijay Kumar is not a bad guy. He just made an honest mistake about the law."

That mistake, Scheiner said, was reading the rules set forth on the Transportation Security Administration website, which state that brass knuckles are allowed on planes in checked luggage, not carry-on bags.

Kumar, a Hindu who makes films about Islamic fundamentalism, carries the brass knuckles for protection in India, Scheiner said.

"It's so outrageous, and hard to swallow. It's insulting," said Pradip Parekh, a spokesman for the Hindu Congress of America, the group that invited Kumar to the U.S.

"It's not America. If this happened in Iran or Saudi Arabia, that I can understand. But in America? I don't understand."

Kumar bonded out on Aug. 23 and surrendered his passport to Harris County officials as a condition of his bail.

When released, Kumar's visa was revoked. He was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, because he had neither a passport nor a visa.

At a hearing Thursday, a federal immigration judge refused to set a bail for Kumar.

Federal officials would not say Thursday why Kumar's visa was revoked.

John Connolly, assistant agent in charge of ICE in Houston, said that Kumar is not the subject of a homeland security investigation.

Kumar turned down an offer to plead guilty in exchange for time served because he did not want to jeopardize his chances to return to America, Scheiner said. Now he faces the same dilemma. If his case is resolved within four months, he can leave voluntarily and can ask to return.

If the case takes longer, he will be deported after it is complete, squelching his chances to return.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7184409.html