Back on Dec. 6, 2005, Palestinian activist and former University of South Florida professor Dr. Sami Al-Arian was acquitted of 8 of 17 federal terrorism charges. Of the remaining charges, the jurors deadlocked 10-2 for acquittal.
“Much of the government’s evidence against me were speeches I gave, lectures I presented, articles I wrote,
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Yet, Dr. Al-Arian remains in prison where he has been since his arrest Feb. 20, 2003.
In November 2005, Al-Arian was asked to give evidence against a Muslim think tank before a grand jury. However, Al-Arian said, “My belief system and conscience are totally against talking about anyone,” and he refused to testify. The judge cited him for contempt of court.
Subsequently, in exchange for being excused from testifying, released from prison, and deported, Al-Arian agreed to plead guilty to a charge of aiding a terrorist organization. The judge sentenced Al-Arian to the maximum for the plea deal, 57 months. With credit for time served, he was due to be released and deported Apr. 13 this year.
However, on Jan. 22, Al-Arian was summoned before a second grand jury and again told to give evidence. He refused. The judge ignored the plea bargain and charged Al-Arian with civil contempt for which he can add up to another 18 months to Al-Arian’s sentence. After the 18 months, the judge could then charge him with criminal contempt and extend Al-Arian’s sentence indefinitely.
That day, in protest, Dr. Al-Arian, a diabetic, began a hunger strike. As of Feb. 15, he had lost approximately 30 pounds.
“I believe that freedom and human dignity are more precious than life itself,” he said in a telephone interview [with Chris Hedges, former writer for the New York Times and author of “The Road Map to Despotism”] from Northern Neck Regional Jail in Warsaw, Va. “In, essence I am taking a principled stand that I am willing to endure whatever it takes to win my freedom.”
Mahdi Bray, executive director of MAS Freedom Foundation, stated: “The government after years of incarcerating Dr. Al-Arian and spending millions of the taxpayers’ dollars, was unable to get a single conviction by a federal jury in this case. In short they lost the case. Yet they’ve used every trick in the book to persecute Dr. Al-Arian and his family. His prison treatment is extremely inhumane, including periods of 23 hour lock-down in a rat and roach infested environment, deliberately improperly dressed while forced to walk in sub-freezing weather, and threats and abuse from guards and U.S. marshals.
“These latest developments in Dr. Al-Arian’s case are a clear and outrageous display of government corruption and abuse of power. In spite of an agreement intended to resolve his case once and for all, the government has continued to harass Dr. Al-Arian and mire him further in legal purgatory. Clearly the U.S. Bureau of Prisons is complicit in the inhumane treatment of Dr. Al-Arian. Congress, who has oversight over the U.S. prison system, needs to be alerted to this abuse and inhumane treatment.”
Dr. Al-Arian vows that he will remain on a hunger strike until the government ends its vindictive campaign against him and allows him to return to his wife and children.
The MAS Freedom Foundation has asked supporters to write to the following individuals to demand an immediate end to Dr. Al-Arian’s suffering:
Honorable Judge Gerald Lee
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA 22314
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001
Fax Number: (202) 307-6777
E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General, may be sent to [email protected].
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5126
(202) 225-0072 Fax
[email protected]
Senator Patrick Leahy
433 Russell Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224- 4242
[email protected]
Click here to read more from the PSL about Dr. Al-Arian’s case.
For more info on Al-Arian’s case, visit http://www.freesamialarian.com/home.htm.
Case timeline:
1975—Sami Al-Arian, age 17, came to the United States from Palestine.
1986—Became a professor at the University of South Florida.
1995—the U.S. government began a harassment campaign against him.
2003, Feb. 20—arrested on 17 federal terrorism charges.
2003—Al-Arian (a diabetic) in protest of his conditions of imprisonment, conducts a 140-day hunger strike, loses 45 pounds, requires hospitalization.
2005, Dec. 6—after 6 months of trial, found not guilty of 8 charges; 10 of 12 jurors agreed on acquittal on all the charges, when the judge declares the jury deadlocked and declares a mistrial.
2006, April—Al-Arian agrees to plead guilty to one a count of aiding a terrorist organization, in exchange for not being required to testify before a grand jury regarding a Muslim think tank, as well as being released from prison and deported. The judge could have released Al-Arian for time served, instead gave him the maximum time for this charge, 57 months, which would have him released April 13, 2007.
2007, Jan. 22—Al-Arian is required to appear at a second grand jury on the same case. He again refuses to testify and is again declared in contempt of court. He is sentenced to as much as an additional 18 months in prison.
Al-Arian begins hunger strike.
2007, Feb. 15—Al-Arian has lost approximately 30 pounds.
