On Oct. 16, attorney Lynn Stewart was sentenced to 28 months in prison for representing Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, who was charged and convicted of plotting to bomb New York City landmarks. Stewart, a long-time radical defense lawyer and activist, was originally facing 30 years on the phony charge that she facilitated the passing of communications from Rahman to his followers.
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Lynne Stewart speaks at an anti-war rally sponsored by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). |
Ahmed Abdel Sattar and Mohammed Yousry were also found guilty of “aiding” Abdel Rahman.
Sattar, a former postal worker, was sentenced to 24 years in prison. He was convicted of allegedly negotiating by phone with an Abdel Rahman supporter to end a cease-fire in Egypt. U.S. district judge John Koeltl said he imposed this sentence, and not the life term the prosecution requested, “because no one was killed or injured as a result of the crimes.” (New York Times, Oct. 16)
Yousry, Stewart’s Arabic translator, was given 20 months. The prosecution had asked for 20 years.
The prosecution of Stewart, Abdel Sattar and Yousry was part of the campaign in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, bombing of the World Trade Center to reduce and eliminate the bourgeois democratic right of political dissent.
After the attacks, the Bush administration, with the backing of the Democratic and Republican parties, proceeded to pass a range of repressive laws, such as the Patriot Act. It also utilized existing legislation to limit political activity.
In this climate, the Department of Justice charged Stewart with violating Special Administrative Measures imposed on Stewart’s client, Abdel Rahman. A SAM means that a particular prisoner’s communications, including any exchange with their attorney, can be monitored and limited. This enabled the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons to listen to and record conversations between Stewart and Abdel Rhaman that are normally protected under the attorney-client privilege.
As a part of representing any client, an attorney must sign an affidavit stipulating they will observe the SAM. The particular charge used to arrest, prosecute and convict Stewart was that she facilitated communications between Abdel Rahman and his followers in Egypt by reading a statement from him at a press conference in 2000.
Stewart explained in an April 2005 interview published in Socialism and Liberation magazine, “After the press release was issued in 2000, the government only wrote me a letter. There were press releases made on the case before that. I had a good faith basis to believe that this was allowable as part of my duties as a lawyer.
“Things were much different in 2002. The government had launched a so-called war on terror. Part of that included going after the civil rights of people in the United States. But they had little to show for it. They needed a terrorist indictment and I was the best they could come up with.” Click here to read the full interview.
Bush administration upset at result
John Ashcroft, then U.S. attorney general, made Stewart’s arrest and prosecution a centerpiece of the “war on terror.” Ashcroft held press conferences and made highly publicized appearances during the legal proceedings. The case was so important to Ashcroft and the Bush administration that Ashcroft dedicated a full chapter of his memoirs to Stewart.
All progressive people should denounce Stewart’s conviction and sentencing as a politically motivated campaign to make attorneys think twice before representing anyone who the capitalist government deems a “terrorist.”
The real criminal in this case is the U.S. government. The real crime is the arrest, prosecution, conviction and sentencing of Stewart for 28 months. In spite of the sentence imposed, it represents a setback for the Bush administration. Stewart was facing 30 years jail time.
The sentence reflects the impact of the movement in support of Stewart on the judicial process. Progressive groups and individuals in this country and around the world held meetings and fundraisers for her defense. Over the course of the trial, supporters filled the courtroom and protested outside.
The New York Times reported that the trial judge “appears to have been impressed by about 1,100 letters of support she received from law professors, former prosecutors, retired judges and former clients.”
Lynne Stewart is currently out on bail while the sentence is being appealed.
For more info visit www.lynnestewart.org.
