By JOE FEUERHERD

A federal district court judge ordered the government to show it has acted “promptly” in its suit seeking a $20,000 fine against Voices in the Wilderness, a Chicago-based antiwar group.

At a June 4 hearing, Judge John D. Bates gave prosecutors two weeks to explain why the government took nearly four years to take action against Voices, which is accused of providing unauthorized medical assistance to Iraqis in violation of the pre-war U.S. trade embargo against that government. Justice Department regulations require the government to act “promptly” against those accused of violating the embargo.