Washington (CNN) -- A federal appeals court panel is considering whether photos of Osama bin Laden's body should be released. Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group, argued Thursday before a three-judge panel that the Freedom of Information Act requires the government to release the pictures or better explain why the release of specific images would damage national security. The judges, with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, did not say how soon they may rule. Judicial Watch attorney Michael Bekesha said government records indicate there are 52 images of bin Laden taken just after his death or when his body was aboard the USS Carl Vinson and then buried at sea. During the court hearing, Bekesha argued the shots of the burial at sea could be released without fear of harming national security, but he did not make that claim about the more gruesome images taken just after bin Laden was shot at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
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NEW: The three-judge panel heard arguments; it did not say how soon it may rule
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Conservative legal group Judicial Watch has pushed for release of the photos
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A federal judge rejected the group's request in April 2012
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The group says Obama is asking the courts to rewrite the Freedom of Information Act
At the Thursday hearing, Bekesha raised questions about whether the images were properly classified or if that action was taken only in the face of the @placeholder request to release them.