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Dr. Sami Al-Arian is now in the third week of a hunger strike that began on March 3 to protest his continued harassment by U.S. authorities. Al-Arian, a Palestinian activist and former University of South Florida professor, has been in a federal prison since his detention in February 2003. Earlier in the day, Al-Arian was informed that he would be called to testify before a third grand jury.
Al-Arian, who is diabetic, went on a 140-day hunger strike in 2003 and a 60-day strike in 2007 to protest his political persecution. He is being held for supporting the Palestinian liberation struggle—he was found guilty and sentenced for “aiding a terrorist organization” in a sham trial with no material evidence to support the verdict.
Without being offered any medical treatment after two weeks of his hunger strike, Al-Arian appeared before the grand jury on March 20. He and his legal counselors pointed out that his previous plea agreement does not require his cooperation to testify.
Al-Arian was expected to be released on April 7, but the Department of Justice is pushing to indefinitely prolong his imprisonment through manipulation of the grand jury system.
Under his plea agreement, Al-Arian should have been released no later than last April. However, because he has not testified, his sentence was suspended as he served one year on civil contempt.
The PSL is calling on all supporters for justice to send letters to win Dr. Al-Arian’s release to the following addresses:
Honorable Judge Gerald Lee
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA 22314
Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530-0001
Fax: (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, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-5126
Fax: (202) 225-0072
[email protected]
Senator Patrick Leahy
433 Russell Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
(202) 224- 4242
[email protected]
