In a surprise announcement Dr. Sami Al-Arian’s hearing scheduled for tomorrow has been canceled. Judge Leonie Brinkema will be moving forward with a WRITTEN ORDER instead. No one has received any explanations as to why and naturally we are concerned about the implications. A press conference will be held tomorrow instead at 9:30 am in front of the Department of Justice.
This last minute change could have occurred because the Court got wind of the tremendous interest the public and media have in this case. It is still vital to show our concern and attend the press conference noted below. There is NO SEATING LIMIT in front of the Department of Justice. Join Dr. Al-Arian’s supporters, who are coming from as far as Florida, Tennessee and California. Please make an effort to attend the press conference and invite even more people.
What: A press conference by the Tampa-based Friends of Human Rights will take place at the Department of Justice to call for the dismissal of the charges against Dr. Al-Arian and a protest against the anti-Muslim bias of the prosecutor.
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema is scheduled to issue a ruling in the Eastern District of Virginia at the end of April in a case that will send a signal to the Muslim world and beyond whether the American judicial system has regained its independence after eight years of flagrant manipulation and intimidation by the Bush administration. Brinkema will decide whether the Palestinian activist Dr. Sami Amin Al-Arian, held for over six years in prison and under house arrest in Virginia since Sept 2, is guilty or innocent of two counts of criminal contempt.
Brinkema's ruling will have ramifications that will extend far beyond Virginia and the United States. The trial of Al-Arian is a cause célèbre in the Muslim world. A documentary film was made about the case in Europe. He has become the poster child for judicial abuse and persecution of Muslims in the United States by the Bush administration. The facts surrounding the trial and imprisonment of the former university professor have severely tarnished the integrity of the American judicial system and made the government's vaunted campaign against terrorism look capricious, inept and overtly racist.
Government lawyers made wild assertions that showed a profound ignorance of the Middle East and exposed a gross stereotyping of the Muslim world. It called on the FBI case agent, for example, who testified as an expert witness that Islamic terrorists were routinely smuggled over the border from Iran into Syria, apparently unaware that Syria is separated from Iran by a large land mass called Iraq. The transcripts of the case against Al-Arian-which read like a bad Gilbert and Sullivan opera-are stupefying in their idiocy. The government wiretaps picked up nothing of substance; taxpayer dollars were used to record and transcribe 21,000 hours of banal chatter, including members of the Al-Arian household ordering pizza delivery. During the trial the government called 80 witnesses and subjected the jury to inane phone transcriptions and recordings, made over a 10-year period, which the jury curtly dismissed as "gossip." It would be comical if the consequences were not so dire for the defendant.
A jury, on Dec. 6, 2005, acquitted Dr. Al-Arian on eight of the counts in the superseding indictment after a six-month trial in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. On the 94 charges made against the four defendants, there were no convictions. Of the 17 charges against Al-Arian-including "conspiracy to murder and maim persons abroad"-the jury acquitted him of eight and was hung on the rest. The jurors, who voted 10 to 2 to acquit on the remaining charges, could not reach a unanimous decision calling for his full acquittal. Two others in the case, Ghassan Ballut and Sameeh Hammoudeh, were acquitted of all charges.
The trial result was a public relations disaster for the Bush White House and especially then-Attorney General John Ashcroft, who had personally announced the indictment and reportedly spent more than $50 million on the case. The government prosecutors threatened to retry Al-Arian. The Palestinian professor accepted a plea bargain that would spare him a second trial, agreeing that he had helped people associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad with immigration matters. It was a very minor charge given the high profile of the case. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida and the counterterrorism section of the Justice Department agreed to recommend to the judge the minimum sentence of 46 months. But U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr., who made a series of comments during the trial that seemed to condemn all Muslims, sentenced Al-Arian to the maximum 57 months. In referring to Al-Arian's contention, for example, that he had only raised money for Palestinian Islamic Jihad's charity for widows and orphans, the judge told the professor that "your only connection to orphans and widows is that you create them."
I spent an afternoon with Dr. Al-Arian in his small apartment in Arlington, Va., on Friday. His lawyers have asked that he make no public statements about his case. But we talked widely about the Middle East, the new Israeli government, the siege of Gaza, our families and the changes he hopes will come with an Obama administration. He sat on a couch wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle, thankful to be with his wife and children after being shuttled between jails across the South and kept for 45 months in solitary confinement during his five-and-a-half-year ordeal. But he remains perplexed, as are many, by the gross miscarriage of justice and the ferocity of the government's campaign to smear him with terrorism charges.
The government originally sought a standard cooperation provision as part of the final plea agreement. Al-Arian objected. He refused to plead guilty if he had to cooperate with the Justice Department. The Justice Department-including lawyers from the counterterrorism section of Main Justice-then negotiated to take out the cooperation provision in return for a longer sentence on the one count. That was the deal. He was to have been held in jail until April 2007 and then deported. But that never happened.
Right-wing ideologues, led by Assistant United States Attorney Gordon Kromberg, had no intention of letting him leave the country. Kromberg, a staunch supporter of Israel, arranged to keep Dr. Al-Arian behind bars even after he had finished serving his sentence. He blocked the deportation and subpoenaed Al-Arian to appear in Virginia to testify in an unrelated investigation of a Muslim think tank. This subpoena was a clear violation of the original plea bargain, and Al-Arian, heeding the advice of his lawyers, refused to give in to Kromberg's demands. This led Kromberg to set in motion the newest charges of criminal contempt. Criminal contempt, bolstered by something called terrorism enhancement under Patriot Act II, is the only charge in U.S. statutes that does not carry a maximum penalty. The enhanced criminal contempt charge increases Al-Arian's sentence from the usual 14 to 21 months for criminal contempt to a staggering 17 to 24 years for obstructing a state terrorism investigation. A handful of members of the House, including Jim Moran and Dennis Kucinich, have denounced Kromberg's newest attempt to orchestrate a judicial lynching.
Kromberg, like many involved in the case, has also repeatedly made derogatory and insulting comments about Muslims. When Al-Arian's lawyers asked Kromberg to delay the transfer of the professor to Virginia, for example, because of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, they were told "if they can kill each other during Ramadan they can appear before the grand jury." Kromberg, according to an affidavit signed by Al-Arian's attorney, Jack Fernandez, also said: "I am not going to put off Dr. Al-Arian's grand jury appearance just to assist in what is becoming the Islamization of America."
Judge Brinkema, in one of the rare examples of judicial courage during this saga, defied the government to allow Al-Arian out on bail.
The case against Al-Arian, in the eyes of the grand inquisitors like Kromberg, is a battle against a culture and a religion that they openly denigrate and despise. This racism, the driving engine behind the campaign against Al-Arian, mocks the integrity of the American judicial system. Let us hope that in a few weeks we will witness a new era. Justice delayed is better than justice denied. We owe Dr. Al-Arian, and ourselves, a return to the rule of law.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari for Dr. Sami Al-Arian's petition regarding the plea agreement he concluded with the government more than two years ago. While this development is unfortunate, it should nevertheless be borne in mind that out of more than 2,000 cases, the Supreme Court has only agreed to accept ten cases during the current term.
Dr. Al-Arian has steadfastly maintained that the terms of his plea agreement exempt him from having to testify before any federal grand jury. On June 26th, government prosecutors charged Dr. Al-Arian with criminal contempt for refusing to testify in a federal grand jury investigating a Virginia-based Islamic think-tank. Although the trial was originally scheduled for August 13th, Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia had the trial postponed until the Supreme Court addressed Dr. Al-Arian's appeal.
Dr. Al-Arian's legal team will argue before the judge in the next pre-trial hearing that the immunity order for the federal grand jury in which Dr. Al-Arian did not testify was invalid, and therefore, the criminal contempt charges should be dismissed.
In a move considered unprecedented by various legal experts, Assistant US Attorney Gordon Kromberg had modified the Congressionally-mandated wording of the immunity order. Kromberg maintains that he was attempting to improve on the language of the immunity order, while Dr. Al-Arian's attorneys Professor Jonathan Turley from George Washington University, and Will Olson and PJ Meitl of Bryan Cave, argue that this move is completely unconstitutional. For her part, the Judge has said that the prosecutor's action "has taken this case into uncharted waters" and has accordingly asked both sides to submit the relevant briefs for her consideration.
It is expected that a pre-trial hearing will be held on this very issue later this month. More updates will be sent out in the near future with more information on how to help.
Expresses gratitude for support; "Freedom restores dignity and humanity"
Northern Virginia - September 9, 2008 - Dr. Sami Al-Arian has given his first public statement since being released on bond, thanking his supporters for everything they have done, and calling on them to keep bearing witness to justice all over the world.
[Statement from Dr. Al-Arian:]
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." These words, uttered by Thomas Jefferson more than two centuries ago, ring true today. I am very grateful to those who have been steadfast and vigilant in their defense of freedom, justice, and truth throughout my struggle during the past six years. Indeed, freedom restores the most precious qualities of life, dignity, and humanity. My thanks go to those in all corners of the globe who have campaigned for my case and for other prisoners of conscience. It takes courage and principle to stand up for justice at a time when fear often trumps rationality and fairness. I am also grateful that my release came during a month of spirituality and reflection, one that I am blessed to spend with my family, while still remembering those who are less fortunate and deprived of the most important things in life: freedom, family, and peace. The work of my attorneys, Professor Jonathan Turley, Will Olson, and P.J. Meitl, has been outstanding. I am deeply grateful for their efforts in reuniting me with my family after so many years. Finally, to my friends, supporters, and people of conscience, although I have been released, my situation is not yet over. My family and I appreciate that you keep us in your thoughts and prayers. May God bestow His blessings, mercy, and grace on all those who struggle for justice and freedom, and on those who stand up for and speak out on their behalf.
[END]
Write to Dr. Al-Arian!
Personal letters are always an important source of inspiration for Dr. Al-Arian to keep persevering. To send a letter, simply email tampabayjustice@yahoo.com and your message will be passed along to him. Remember, even a short message of encouragement means a lot.
Again, to all of you who have shown your support, you have our heartfelt gratitude.
Action hailed as an important step toward restoration of due process
Washington, D. C. 9/2/2008- Dr. Sami Al-Arian, the most prominent political prisoner in America, has been release on bail. Welcoming the news of his release Dr. Agha Saeed, Chairman American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT) said, " This is an important step toward restoration of due process and equal justice for all".
A brief history of the case is given below:
- Dr. Al-Arian, a nationally recognized activist for American civil rights and Palestine, was arrested on February 20, 2003 on bloated charges of terrorism; his arrest and subsequent trial was the first major test case of the PATRIOT Act.
- Alexander Cockburn has noted, this trial "featured eighty government witnesses (including twenty-one from Israel) and 400 intercepted phone calls (the result of a decade of surveillance and half a million recorded calls). One bit of evidence consisted of a conversation a co-defendant had with Al-Arian in his dream."
- In December 2005, after 10 years of federal investigation and a six-month trial, which cost the taxpayers 50 million dollars, a Florida jury refused to return a single guilty verdict against Dr. Al-Arian.
- In a special two-page article about Dr. Al-Arian, TIME magazine reported that years of FBI investigation offered "no real links between al-Arian and terrorist acts. Nonetheless, says a former FBI supervisor involved in the case, in late 2002 word came down from Ashcroft to build an al-Arian indictment. "We were in shock, but those were our marching orders," says the supervisor, who felt that the Justice Department was rushing to indict before it had really appraised the evidence. ('When terror charges just won't stick", TIME, December 19, 2005, pp. 46-47)
- On May 1, 2006, the Justice Department agreed that Dr. al Arian should be released within 30 days, and further agreed to assist in his voluntary departure from the country without other conditions, in exchange for a guilty plea to one non-violent offense.
- Nevertheless, in a clear violation of these terms, Dr. Al-Arian has been called to testify before an unrelated trial three times.
- On June 26th, 2008, Dr. Al-Arian was formally charged with criminal contempt of court for his refusal to testify. A federal judge has unexpectedly postponed the contempt trial until the Supreme Court addresses Dr. Al-Arian's appeal.
- Civil libertarians all over the world have been calling for Dr. Al-Arian's release.
- Now Dr. Sami A-Arian has to await his resumption of his trial in December.
Sami Al-Arian is out on bail in Virginia today, said his attorney Jonathan Turley.
"He is having a very cheerful reunion with four of his children in Washington, D.C.," said Turley.
His wife, Nahla, and youngest daughter, Lama, returned to Egypt three days ago.
The former University of South Florida professor had been in federal custody for more than five years and was released this afternoon after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agreed with his attorneys that to hold him was a violation of his constitutional rights. Al-Arian had been held by ICE for 130 days and the legal limit was 90 days.
In July, federal judge Leonie Brinkema ordered him freed on bail to await trial for a criminal contempt charge for refusing to testify to a federal grand jury. Al-Arian had completed a 57-month sentence a year ago for helping associates of a Palestinian terrorist organization with nonviolent activities.
But he was never freed from federal custody. Instead, he was held in prison on a civil contempt charge by federal prosecutors in Virginia and then by immigration after his sentence ended.
He is now at the apartment of his oldest daughter Laila, with four of his five children.
"We are delighted and relieved that Dr. Al-Arian is reunited with his family. He looks forward to addressing the remaining charges in court and securing his permanent release," said Turley.
After Intense Courtroom Battle, Dr. Al-Arian's Trial Postponed
Prosecution emotionally accuses defense of carrying out personal attacks; Judge to attorneys: "Cool down!"
On Friday, in a pre-trial hearing which witnessed one of the single most dramatic clashes between Dr. Sami Al-Arian's attorneys and the government, a federal judge unexpectedly postponed Dr. Al-Arian's trial on criminal contempt. The trial, originally scheduled for this upcoming Wednesday (August 13th), will now be delayed until the Supreme Court addresses the appeal submitted by Dr. Al-Arian's attorneys on the lawfulness of the federal subpoena which led to the contempt charges, a process which could take several months.
Several other important issues were vigorously debated by both sides. One of the defense's primary objections to the legality of the contempt charges was that the immunity order given to Dr. Al-Arian was not written in the standard language set forth by Congress. Not only that, government prosecutor Gordon Kromberg had concealed that his attempt to make such modifications had been stricken down by a federal judge for the very trial which Dr. Al-Arian has been summoned to testify in. Judge Brinkema expressed concern at this unorthodox practice, ordering all related documents to be turned over to the court before issuing a ruling. The judge indicated that a hearing could be held to determine whether the prosecutor had acted inappropriately and whether the immunity order given to Dr. Al-Arian was lawful. Assistant US Attorney Kromberg for his part vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
During the course of the 90-minute hearing, Kromberg also complained to the court about public comments recently made by former U.S. Senator Mike Gravel. Kromberg claimed that Gravel had called for him to be stalked, further maintaining that the web log of lead defense attorney Jonathan Turley had incited such sentiments. In one moment of hyperbole, Kromberg went so far as to refer to the blog posts as "anti-Semitic."
Judge Brinkema cautioned both parties from allowing the case to "heat up", warning that she would not hesitate to replace attorneys on either side if the situation did not improve. Turley pointed out that the defense had publicly repudiated Gravel's comments, and further noted that, while Dr. Al-Arian and his family are continuously attacked by extremist websites, the defense has never attributed responsibility for such attacks to the government. Nevertheless, Turley offered to remove all postings related to Dr. Al-Arian's case from his website in order to help refocus attention on the more essential issues at hand.
Instead of calming down, however, the hour-and-a-half-long hearing ended on another heated note. After Judge Brinkema ordered that Dr. Al-Arian be released on bail under the custodianship of his eldest daughter, Kromberg abruptly objected, claiming that, as an Arab woman, Dr. Al-Arian's daughter would be too weak and submissive to oppose any potential attempt by Dr. Al-Arian to flee, saying that "in this particular [Arab-Islamic] culture, she would not be able to stop him from leaving..." Before the defense could express its objection however, the judge struck down Kromberg's objection, frankly noting that it was "insulting" not only to Dr. Al-Arian and his daughter, but to the Court as well. The audience in the courtroom was stunned by the prosecutor's overtly sexist and racist comments, though Kromberg has developed his notoriety for the bigotry displayed toward Arab and Muslim Americans.
Nevertheless, despite the judge's order to have Dr. Al-Arian released on bail, it is still not clear whether this will actually happen. Judge Brinkema had originally ordered bail for Dr. Al-Arian on July 10th, but the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) used the pretext that it was in the process of deporting Dr. Al-Arian to keep him detained. With the trial months away, however, it is uncertain what exactly will happen next.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - The trial of a former Florida professor once accused of being a leading Palestinian terrorist was postponed Friday after a judge raised new doubts about whether prosecutors have been overzealous.
Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian had been scheduled to go on trial next week in U.S. District Court for criminal contempt after refusing to testify to a federal grand jury about a cluster of Muslim organizations in northern Virginia.
But U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema postponed the trial indefinitely, questioning whether the government was overeager in filing charges. She also questioned whether prosecutors had properly filled out the paperwork demanding Al-Arian's grand jury testimony.
She said the government was premature in seeking contempt charges while Al-Arian has a pending appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that the terms of a plea agreement he struck in a previous trial exempt him from testifying.
Prosecutors responded that Al-Arian's claim has been rejected by two appellate courts and that Brinkema's ruling could have long-term implications in compelling people to comply with court orders.
Prosecutor Gordon Kromberg said that if a person can refuse to testify until the U.S. Supreme Court requires them to, the effect will be "undercutting the court's ability to get anyone to obey its orders."
Any delay in Al-Arian's trial is significant because the government wants to try to convict him before he is deported to Egypt. Al-Arian, who is in the custody of immigration authorities, is subject to a deportation order and has been pushing them to either release him or deport him immediately.
Friday's hearing was not the first time that Brinkema has questioned the government's decision to prosecute Al-Arian for contempt. She previously suggested that the contempt case runs against a promise by the Justice Department that it would not stand in the way of Al-Arian's deportation.
Al-Arian was a Palestinian activist and computer professor at the University of South Florida when he was charged in 2003 with being a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a designated terrorist group linked to Iran.
After a six-month trial, a jury in Florida acquitted Al-Arian on many charges and deadlocked on others. When prosecutors pursued a retrial, Al-Arian struck a plea bargain and pleaded guilty to conspiring to aid the PIJ by helping a family member with links to the group get immigration benefits and by lying to a reporter about another person's links to the PIJ.
While he was serving his sentence in the Florida case, federal prosecutors in Virginia demanded his testimony.
On Friday, Brinkema warned both sides to cool their rhetoric.
The warning comes after former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel, spoke at an Aug. 1 rally of Al-Arian supporters, suggested pressuring Kromberg, saying "find out where he lives, find out where his kids go to school."
Al-Arian's family repudiated the comments.
Meanwhile, defense lawyer Jonathan Turley has accused Kromberg of bias against Muslims. On Friday, Kromberg objected to a court order that would release Al-Arian to his daughter's custody to await trial, arguing that she would be unable to exert any authority over Al-Arian "in this particular culture," an apparent reference to the family's religion.
It’s been more than five years since Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a professor at the University of South Florida, was arrested and jailed on terrorism and conspiracy charges cobbled together under the USA PATRIOT Act.
Al-Arian, a longtime Palestinian activist, spent more than two and a half years in solitary confinement, until December 2005, when a jury acquitted him of the most serious of the charges. His family claims he signed a plea agreement — admitting to a minor charge — just to put an end to the nightmarish ordeal in hopes of being reunited with his family.
But Al-Arian is still languishing in a Virginia prison, the victim of what his daughter, Laila Al-Arian, describes as the Bush administration’s ongoing persecution of Arabs and Muslims living in the United States. This Wednesday, July 23, at 6:30 p.m., Laila Al-Arian will discuss her father’s case in the Community Room of Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library. Al-Arian is calling on U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, to investigate her father’s prolonged imprisonment.
According to some estimates, the federal government has already spent $50 million in its attempted prosecution of Dr. Al-Arian. The family’s ordeal was chronicled in the 2007 award-winning documentary, USA v. Al-Arian.
“From the beginning, it has been clear that this was a political prosecution and the pursuit of contempt by the rogue prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia have underscored this,” says Linda Moreno, one of Al-Arian’s attorneys, in a posting on his daughter’s blog. “As I have often said, I support my government going after terrorists and those who wish to do harm against my country. But I have never represented a terrorist, and an American jury found that Dr. Al Arian was no terrorist.”
In a statement, Laila Al-Arian said she’s looking forward to coming to Burlington, in part because of the community support for keeping Al Jazeera English on the air. A graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism, she recently began working as a producer for Al Jazeera English in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Sami Al-Arian’s bond hearing was held this morning, July 10, 2008, at the U.S. District Courthouse in Alexandria, VA. His children Abdullah, Laila and Ali were in the courtroom, as well as a number of Al-Arian supporters, including four Washington Report staff members. Al-Arian himself looked gaunt and exhausted.
Judge Leonie Brinkema listened to the government’s arguments presented by the prosecution, U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg, who painted a muddled picture of Al-Arian as a dangerous man who has refused to provide evidence against an Islamic think tank, and as a flight risk.The defense arguments presented by Al-Arian’s attorney, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley, told a different story. Al-Arian, his attorney explained, has volunteered four times to take polygraph tests, answered every question the government has asked, and examined every document the government has asked him to comment on in their efforts to prosecute a Virginia think tank. Dr. Al-Arian has painstakingly explained the government’s every misinterpretation and said he knows of no criminality. According to Turley, the government did not respond to several offers by Al-Arian to take polygraphs and has said he is a minor witness in its investigation. Yet, contrary to its agreement to expedite his deportation, it still refuses to release him.
Turley told Judge Brinkema that Al-Arian was not a flight risk or a danger to the community. “He’s an international scholar who would not abandon his children or his principles to become a fugitive,” Turley explained. Al-Arian posted his entire retirement savings, $340,000, as bond and offered to undergo global positioning monitoring. An undisclosed friend offered to post his own home as bond, but the judge said she would not require that. In response to a question from Judge Brinkema, Turley also noted Al-Arian’s health issues and the fact that the U.S. government would not agree to operate on Al-Arian’s hernia, even though Al-Arian’s family offered to pay for the surgery.
Judge Brinkema decided to release Al-Arian on bond, in the custody of his son Abdullah. He will be under house arrest and released from U.S. Marshal custody as soon as the monitoring equipment arrives and bond is posted. However, she noted, she could not order Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release Dr. Al-Arian if they decide to hold him. Even if that is the case, Judge Brinkema said, the clock will start running on the deadline by which Al-Arian must be deported.
As for Kromberg’s contention that Al-Arian is a man without a country and no country is willing to accept Al-Arian when he is deported, Turley said the government is showing “willful blindness.” The Egyptian government has sent a letter to the U.S. government saying it will accept Al-Arian, Turley said—a letter which Kromberg has received. Palestinians also have invited Al-Arian to live in the occupied territories, Turley said. Judge Brinkema warned that she did not want to hear that there had been any signal or pressure from the U.S. government to make a country (i.e., Egypt) change its position about receiving Al-Arian.
Dr. Al-Arian’s trial on charges of criminal contempt (for refusing to testify before a grand jury convened by Kromberg) is scheduled to begin August 13th. At the conclusion of the trial (assuming he is not sentenced to an indeterminate prison sentence), ICE would resume deportation proceedings for Sami Al-Arian—who, after 12 years of surveillance and a lengthy trial in his home town of Tampa, Florida—has yet to be convicted of a single charge brought against him.
For more information see an Associated Press article:
Government abuses grand jury system to punish prominent civil rights activist
Alexandria, Virginia, June 30, 2008
Last Thursday, three months after refusing to testify before a third grand jury, Dr. Sami Al-Arian - whose trial has been the single most important test case of the PATRIOT Act - was charged on two counts of contempt of court. Dr. Al-Arian refused to testify not only because the plea agreement he concluded with the government in 2006 clearly exempts him from having to do so, but also because it was a clear perjury trap.
The Assistant US Attorney who sought his testimony and who brought the contempt charges, Gordon Kromberg, has made no attempt to hide his bigotry towards Arabs and Muslims. Furthermore, Kromberg has publicly and in no uncertain terms declared his alleged right to use legal loopholes to punish people he cannot convict for any substantial crimes. (Click here for more information on this rogue prosecutor).
Criminal contempt has no maximum penalty; if convicted, Dr. Al-Arian, a loving father of five, could be sentenced for life.
These charges are an outrageous abuse of the grand jury system and a naked attempt by the government to punish an innocent man for exercising his first amendment rights. For more information on the indictment, click here. To watch the YouTube video which summarizes Dr. Al-Arian's case, click here.
PLEASE ACT!
2 phone calls + 1 fax = BIG difference!
Friends, please stand with us against this act of tyranny by doing these two simple things:
1.Call Senator Patrick Leahy ((202) 224- 4242) and Congressman John Conyers ((202) 225-5126) - the Judicial Committee chairmen of the Senate and House respectively - and ask them to meet with the Attorney General and have him stop Assistant US Attorney Gordon Kromberg from going forward with this unlawful indictment. Even if you are not their constituent, they are obliged to listen to your opinion since their duties extend to all Americans.
2. Fax a letter to the Office of Professional Responsibility at the US Department of Justice: (202) 514-5050. Click here for a letter template.
There are other very important things you can do to help out! To find out more, please visit this page.
VIRGINIA-- This past week, Dr. Sami Al-Arian marked the 33rd anniversary of his arrival to the United States. Dr. Al-Arian, who is currently being held at the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth, Virginia, awaits deportation by immigration officials while a Virginia prosecutor attempts to keep Dr. Al-Arian imprisoned indefinitely.
On April 11, Dr. Al-Arian completed his sentence, following an additional year spent in civil contempt for his refusal to testify before a grand jury. A plea agreement reached with the government in 2006 called for Dr. Al-Arian's immediate release and deportation and promised to protect him from cooperation. After spending more than five years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement, Dr. Al- Arian has spent the last six weeks in legal limbo -not serving a sentence and not charged, but not allowed to leave the country.
On May 21, 2008, Dr. Al-Arian spent the 33rd anniversary of his arrival to the United States in a 7 x 10 cell in a rural Virginia jail. The son of Palestinian refugees, Dr. Al-Arian, 50, arrived to the U.S. from Egypt in 1975 as a 17 year-old college freshman.
He completed his graduate studies almost a decade later, receiving a doctorate in computer engineering and beginning a successful academic career at the University of South Florida in Tampa. While there, he became an award-winning tenured professor. He authored a number of articles in his field and chapters in textbooks and won several prestigious research grants for his university. Dr. Al-Arian's work in the classroom consistently garnered high praise from students and colleagues alike.
In 1979, he married Nahla Al-Najjar, another Palestinian refugee, who became the source of love, guidance, and support for her husband as they embarked on a mission to build a family and a community. Dr. Al-Arian credits his wife with sharing his devotion and passion for community building and activism. She was a pioneer for the inclusion of women in leadership positions within the American Muslim community. Along with their five children, they lived in Tampa until 2007 when Mrs. Al-Arian and their two youngest children departed for Egypt, where they eagerly await Dr. Al-Arian's release and deportation.
In addition to his professional career, Dr. Al-Arian devoted much time and energy to the building of civic institutions to enhance the life of the growing American Muslim community. He has played an integral role in founding and expanding some of the largest national organizations, including the Muslim Students Association (MSA) and the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Locally, he founded the Islamic Community of Tampa Bay at the Al-Qassam mosque. At its height, the mosque boasted thousands of congregants and became a leading participant in some of the most important local charitable work, including the annual Feed the Hungry event hosted by Tampa's mayor. Dr. Al-Arian, as the imam, also led the mosque to become the first to join the Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality (HOPE), a social justice coalition made up of nineteen churches.
Pastor Warren Clark of the First United Church in Tampa recalls one of his earliest conversations with Dr. Al-Arian, following the Muslim community's participation in a HOPE event. "(Sami) said, `There are issues in this town that are more than just Muslim issues. We are called on by the Quran to work for the poor, the outcast, the hungry, the widows, and the orphans.' He led his community to engage in this work in many different ways and through many different organizations.
Within the Muslim community, that legacy has continued on, even in his absence."
One of Dr. Al-Arian's proudest achievements is establishing the Islamic Academy of Florida (IAF), a full-time school that offered students the highest quality education while instilling them with a sense of moral duty to their community and country. He served as principal of the school for several years, as it became the lifeblood of the community. Graduates of IAF have gone on to some of the top universities in America and most have received scholarships and acceptance to honors programs.
Dr. Al-Arian was also heavily involved in human rights work, especially with regard to his homeland of Palestine, in an effort to relieve the suffering of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli occupation. He was outspoken in opposition to Israeli policies and eager to inform the American public of the plight of Palestinians in order to effect positive change. The organization he founded, the Islamic Committee for Palestine (ICP), held annual national conferences and organized charitable activities to help needy orphans in Palestine.
Among his many activities, Dr. Al-Arian actively worked to bridge the divide between East and West. He promoted interfaith dialogue individually and institutionally, in an effort to establish peace, tolerance, and understanding between faiths. Another one of his initiatives, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise (WISE), was a groundbreaking think tank at USF that brought together scholars, experts, and leading intellectuals from around the world. Its publications were highly regarded by experts in the field. Through this work, Dr. Al-Arian developed many important and lasting friendships.
Melva Underbakke, an instructor at USF and member of Friends of Human Rights, recalls her first impressions of Dr. Al-Arian:"I met Sami in the early 1990s. He was giving a presentation for the teachers at the English Language Institute (ELI) at USF. Most of them didn't know anything about Middle Eastern culture. People liked him in the Foreign Languages Department because he was trying to build bridges between East and West. He had a real reputation for doing that there."
He soon became recognized as a national leader of the American Muslim community, receiving invitations to speak at numerous churches, synagogues, and other institutions, including the U.S. Central Command at the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
By the mid-1990s, Dr. Al-Arian's activities were centered on the latest civil rights struggle in American history: the emerging national effort to end the unjust detention of Arabs and Muslims for years without trials through the use of secret evidence. Through tremendous efforts, including coalition-building, grassroots mobilization, and congressional lobbying, Dr. Al-Arian would come to be recognized as "one of the country's leading advocates" of the new civil rights movement, according to Newsweek magazine.
Having lived in the U.S. for over two decades, he was steeped in the American civil rights tradition and was a strong believer in fighting for change through the designated avenues. Furthermore, Dr. Al-Arian worked hard to empower and enfranchise the American Muslim community on the local and national levels, encouraging Muslims to vote and run for office.
Dr. Al-Arian's arrest on February 20, 2003, at the behest of the Bush Administration, was the height of injustices committed against Dr. Al-Arian in his three decades as a law-abiding resident who loved his country; a country where he lived twice as long as he had anywhere else; a country that shared his values and beliefs more than any other; a country where he raised his family to live, learn, work, and contribute to its betterment.
The trial and acquittal of Dr. Al-Arian in 2005 served not only to demonstrate his innocence against the government's unfounded accusations, but also as an affirmation of his decades of public service. ICP and WISE, the institutions that the government attempted to destroy in its indictment, were ultimately vindicated. Prosecutors could not show any evidence of wrongdoing. In fact, witnesses called by the government, including professors, lawyers, and federal agents, testified to the value of these organizations and their genuine nature. Jurors who sat in the trial for six months drew only the logical conclusion that ICP and WISE were legitimate, law-abiding organizations that were highly regarded.
The government's decision to continue to punish Dr. Al-Arian even after his acquittal demonstrates the politically-motivated nature of the actions against him. This effort has been led by those who are openly opposed to the empowerment of American Muslims in the public square, and have professed deep hostility to the cause of justice for Palestinians.
For the past five years, Dr. Al-Arian has witnessed the gravest of injustices, some that he spent years of his life fighting against, and others never thought imaginable in a free society. As he continues to endure imprisonment with no end in sight, abusive treatment at the hands of prison officials, and isolation from those who love and depend on him, many Americans and people the world over wonder if justice is indeed possible in such dark times when the abuse of government power knows no bounds.
Dr. Al-Arian, however, maintains his unshakeable faith that the people, on whom the system of justice depends, will ultimately bring an end to the abuses committed in their name. Each day, more people add their voice to the thousands who call on America to live up to its time-tested principles.
As Pastor Clark recalls, it is Dr. Al-Arian's strong faith that has always guided him through the toughest of times. "I recall attending an event at the Islamic Community during the height of the media campaign against Sami, after 9/11, but before he was arrested. I asked him how he was doing and I expected him to say things were bad, but he said, `You know Warren, I feel closer to God now than I have ever felt.' It was another window into the deep wellspring he uses to overcome the most terrible circumstances. That really spoke to me."
As we approach a crossroads in the contemporary civil rights struggle, the case of Dr. Al-Arian takes center stage. Agha Saeed, chair of the American Muslim Taskforce for Civil Rights and Elections and a colleague of Dr. Al-Arian's for many years, reflects on the current situation. "Today, Dr. Al-Arian, one of the most prominent political prisoners in the United States, symbolizes the struggle for freedom of Palestine. Tomorrow, let me predict, based on his heroic sacrifices, he will be recognized as a major 21st century civil rights leader in the Unites States." Such designations do not come without a heavy price. It is up to all those who stand for justice to ensure that the sacrifices made by Dr. Al-Arian are not forgotten.
How about writing to the same people and/or organizations listed below and anyone else you can possibly think of, and ask how is it that an innocent person can be illegally imprisoned without charges in this country such as Dr. Sami Al Arian, while 30 Israeli prisoners who have been convicted of crimes and are legally imprisoned are going to be allowed to serve the remainder of their time by being released to Israel. The authorization for their release is apparently coinciding with "Israel's 60th"!
The official reason of an overcrowded prison system which somehow chooses 30 Israeli prisoners out of 177,000 people is something that needs to be addressed.
Marlene
Schwarzenegger to authorize release of 30 or more Israeli prisoners
Attorney says leaders of California's Jewish community behind governor's decision to allow prisoners to serve remainder of their sentences in Israel
Ahead of Israel's 60th Anniversary
celebrations, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected authorized the release of some 30 Israelis from the state's prisons, thus allowing them to serve the remainder of their sentences in Israel, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.
California's overcrowded prison system was cited as the official reason for the release of the prisoners. The state's prisons currently house 170,000 inmates, about 77,000 more than they can actually hold. The gesture marks a shift in the policy of the state's parole board, which has rejected numerous pleas by Israeli prisoners for an early release.
Mordehai Tzivlin, a defense attorney for the Israeli prisoners abroad and their families, said leaders of California's Jewish community were behind Schwarzenegger's decision.
According to Israeli Foreign Ministry data, 40 Israelis are currently being held in Los Angeles prisons, while 15 more are serving time in San Francisco for various offenses, including murder, money laundering, drug-trafficking and fraud.
The transfer of the prisoners to Israel is scheduled to begin in the beginning of June and will be concluded within a few months. The International Division at the State Prosecutor's Office has already drafted a list of 31 prisoners Israel is requesting that Californian authorities release as part of the gesture.
Thanks to your swift action, the Hampton Roads Regional Jail has taken Dr. Al-Arian out of segregation and has started treating him properly. This is an important victory which has brought much relief to Dr. Al-Arian and his family. This is again proof that your calls and emails DO make a difference.
At the same time, we must not lose sight of the greater battle at hand: Dr. Al-Arian is still being illegally held in prison, while rogue US Attorneys are working feverishly to indict Dr. Al-Arian on criminal contempt to keep him imprisoned for at least five more years, and very possibly an entire decade.*
If you have not done so already, please do these 3 SIMPLE BUT POWERFUL ACTS:
1. CallVincent Archibeque, Assistant Field Office Director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): (703) 285-6221.
Stress that Dr. Al-Arian's prison term ended on April 11th and that his imprisonment since then has been completely illegal. Ask Mr. Archibeque to do everything he can to ensure that Dr. Al-Arian is released and deported as soon as possible in accordance with the terms of his plea agreement.
2.Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (Department of Homeland Security):
(866)-644-8360 (press 1 for English and then press 5 to leave a message)
Stress that Dr. Al-Arian's prison term ended on April 11th and that his imprisonment since then has been completely illegal. Ask that Dr. Al-Arian be released and deported as soon as possible in accordance with the terms of his plea agreement.
Again, always be polite but firm.
If you don't speak to a live person:
-simply leave a message on the answering machine; and
-call back later that day or the next day to try to get through.
Ask Mr. Mukasey to ensure that Dr. Al-Arian is deported as soon as possible in accordance with the plea agreement. (For a letter template, please go to http://www.freesamialarian.com/letters/sample1.doc)
NOTE: In any given civil rights campaign, there are always more people willing to make a phone call than write an email. Your emails are very important. Just use our letter template and take five minutes to write out your message. Precisely because so few people ever write their own letter, yours will be exponentially more powerful for that.
VIRIGINA-- Earlier today, Dr. Sami Al-Arian, who is on the 52nd day of ahunger strike to protest government harassment, began to take a liquid nutritional supplement. Dr. Al Arian's health has deteriorated rapidly since he began the fast on March 3. He drank no water for the first 18 days and has lost more than 40 pounds. He has not received proper treatment or medical care at Hampton Roads Regional Jail, where he is being held.
At 11 a.m. on Monday morning, Dr. Al-Arian collapsed and lost consciousness for a few minutes. A doctor who examined him ordered the jail to give him more fluids, and tried to convince Dr. Al-Arian to take supplemental nutrients. Later, an official with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement met with Dr. Al-Arian. The official promised Dr. Al-Arian that he would be moved to a different facility later this week.
After thousands of supporters and people of conscience called Hampton Roads Regional Jail last week, Dr. Al-Arian's conditions improved - slightly. His clothes and blankets were returned to him and he was able to receive ONE visit from family members. However, during that visit, which took place behind a glass partition, Dr. Al-Arian's hands were shackled. He remains on suicide watch in the segregation unit at the prison, on 24-hour lockdown in a windowless prison cell. The bright lights in the cell are constantly on, including throughout the night. He is allowed to shower only twice a week and is handcuffed every time he leaves his cell. He is not able to estimate the Muslim prayer times because he has no access to a watch or clock.
Dr. Al-Arian, who has experienced dizzy spells, blurred eyesight and fatigue, also began taking the liquid supplement at the urging of his family, who would like him to regain his strength to be able to travel in the event that he is deported expeditiously and allowed to finally rejoin them, as the government has promised.
Though Dr. Al-Arian was transferred into ICE custody on April 11, following the completion of his sentence, there is no indication that the government will release him. TBCJP urges the U.S. government not to bring new charges against Dr. Al-Arian, a decision that would appear vindictive and underhanded.
The next week is an especially critical time for people of conscience to speak out against the continued attempts to increase Dr. Al-Arian's imprisonment.
TAKE ACTION:
1- Contact Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and ask:
(1) that Dr. Al-Arian immediately be moved to another facility where he will be treated with dignity and respect, and
(2) that the U.S. government honor its promise to Dr. Al-Arian to release and deport him immediately.
Vincent Archibeque, Acting Field Office Director of ICE 2675 Prosperity Avenue Fairfax, VA 22031 Phone: 703-285-6200 Area of Responsibility: District of Columbia and Virginia
2-Contact the Department of Justice and ask prosecutors to honor their 2006 plea agreement with Dr. Al-Arian that promised his release and deportation:
Attorney General Michael Mukasey Department of Justice U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001 Fax Number: (202) 307-6777
BY E-MAIL: E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General, may be sent to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
Rita Zawaideh, Arab American Community Coalition - 206-601-1141
Ramsey Tesdell, Student Coalition for Sami Al-Arian - 612-750-1377
SEATTLE –On Thursday, April 24th, more than 100 students will participate in a hunger strike in solidarity with Sami Al-Arian and his struggle for justice. A broad coalition of student organizations on the University of Washington campus have come together in solidarity with Sami Al-Arian.
The hunger strike will conclude at 6PM with a showing of the film, USA vs. Al-Arian, and a humble meal in Smith Hall, RM 205 on the campus of the University of Washington Campus.
Sami has been on a hunger strike since March 3, 2008. For the first 18 days, he abstained from both food and water. Since then, he has only taken water. He has lost 35 pounds and his life is in danger. His release is requested not only on legal grounds, but humanitarian grounds as well. This case has drawn international attention and has dealt a severe blow to the United States of America's domestic human rights record. Dr. Al-Arian is the most prominent political prisoner in the United States and the only one currently on a hunger strike.
In February 2003, the FBI raided the home of University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian and arrested him in front of his wife and children. Al-Arian was then charged with 17 counts related to terrorism. Many government officials, including then-Attorney General John Ashcroft called Al-Arian a leader in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and made claims that he was raising funds to support terrorism.
The film, USA vs. Al-Arian tells the story through family interviews, news footage, and attractive animation while providing enough detail and context to the illegal incarceration. USA vs. Al-Arian tells not just the story of Sami Al-Arian, but of plight of the Palestinians and of the erosion of civil liberties in the post-9/11 United States.
Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace April 15, 2008
I. Dr. Al-Arian Moved from Abusive Facility II. Reminder about Al-Arian Press Conference Today!
Dr. Al-Arian Moved from Abusive Facility
Immigration officials on Monday afternoon removed Dr. Sami Al-Arian from the Howard County Detention Center in Maryland to an undisclosed detention facility. Dr. Al-Arian, who entered the seventh week of a hunger strike on April 14, had been kept in punitive conditions over the weekend, denied medical monitoring and forced to endure the harsh environment of the segregation unit of the detention center.
Yesterday, while in a temporary holdover cell at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Virginia, Dr. Al-Arian was given a brief visit with family members.
Dr. Al-Arian's daughter, Laila, said officials called the family and offered them an opportunity to visit with him before he was transferred to another facility. "We had been requesting a visit since last week, but since he is constantly moved, we have not seen him in some time. It was especially urgent because my mother had only seen him once during her trip here and she is going back to Egypt on Tuesday," she said.
Nahla, the wife of Dr. Al-Arian, said, "We are grateful to the immigration officials for granting us this visit, and we hope they fulfill their obligation toward our family and deport Sami as soon as possible so that he may finally come back to us. It's been more than five years. We just want this nightmare to end."
Dr. Al-Arian's family reports that the visit lasted thirty minutes and that they saw met him behind a glass partition. Having not seen him in over two weeks, they reacted strongly to the toll Dr. Al-Arian's hunger strike has taken on his body. "He's lost 35 pounds," said his son, Abdullah. "He is far thinner and weaker than the last time we saw him. I don't know how much more of this he can take. The government needs to release him, if for nothing else, than for his life."
Mrs. Al-Arian was also traumatized by witnessing her husband in his current state. "He looked like he'd been through a concentration camp. We want him to stop the hunger strike but he feels he has no other choice. This indefinite imprisonment has torn our family apart. We have had to suffer through three different release dates without him ever being freed."
The family of Dr. Al-Arian has renewed its call for the government to release him, as stipulated by the plea agreement. Although he has been transferred into the custody of immigration authorities, officials have given no indication if they plan to deport Dr. Al Arian. On March 3, a federal judge issued a third order for Dr. Al-Arian to testify before a grand jury. He has continued to refuse to testify, on the basis of a plea agreement signed with prosecutors that promised him non-cooperation and expedited deportation.
"It is especially urgent that all supporters of justice for my father become involved at this critical stage," said Laila Al-Arian. "His life is on the line. Our government must do the right thing and let him go. We believe that if they hear from the thousands of concerned citizens and supporters, they will do the right thing. But there isn't much time."
The Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace urges all conscientious individuals and organizations to contact elected officials as well as the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, to demand an end to the injustice against Dr. Al-Arian once and for all.
TALKING POINTS:
• As of April 11, 2008, Dr. Al-Arian's term of imprisonment has concluded. The plea agreement stipulates that he be given expedited deportation and as such, he should be allowed to leave the country immediately.
• Prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia have abused the grand jury process to keep Dr. Al-Arian detained for more than a year beyond his original sentence. They continue to threaten further action with the latest court order seeking his testimony.
• The plea agreement removed all standard language that would allow the government to pursue cooperation. Florida prosecutors have admitted, on the record, that Dr. Al-Arian explicitly requested non-cooperation, and that they agreed to his request.
• Dr. Al-Arian has been on a hunger strike since March 3, 2008. For the first 18 days, he abstained from both food and water. Since then, he has only taken water. He has lost 35 pounds and his life is in danger. His release is requested not only on legal grounds, but humanitarian grounds as well. This case has drawn international attention and has dealt a severe blow to the United States of America's domestic human rights record. Dr. Al-Arian is the most prominent political prisoner in the United States and the only one currently on a hunger strike.
