Nahla Al-Arian spoke after a court hearing here at which U.S. magistrate Thomas McCoun agreed to allow Al-Arian to dismiss his two court-appointed attorneys and represent himself.

The former University of South Florida professor was fired from his teaching position shortly after he and three co-defendants—Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Naji Fariz, and Ghassan Zayed Ballut—were arrested February 20 on phony “terrorism” charges included in a 50-count federal indictment. The government asserts that Sami Al-Arian is the leading U.S. representative for Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian organization based in the occupied territories.

Nahla Al-Arian said that since March 27 her husband has been held in virtually complete isolation in the Special Housing Unit of the Coleman Federal Prison Complex, 70 miles north of Tampa. Along with Hammoudeh, who is incarcerated with him, Sami Al-Arian is confined to an isolation cell around the clock, save for one exercise hour on weekdays in a “larger cage,” she said.

The London office of Amnesty international has denounced Al-Arian’s detention as “gratuitously punitive,” citing the 23-hour lockdown, strip searches, use of chains and shackles, severely limited recreation, lack of access to any religious service, and denial of watch or clock to inmates living in a windowless cell that is never unlit.

Visits are restricted to legal counsel and members of the immediate family. Physical contact is banned. Nahla Al-Arian is permitted two visits a week and one every other weekend. Phone contact with the outside world is limited to one 15-minute monitored family phone call a month. When she tried to set up a three-way phone call with their son, who is attending school in England, prison authorities cut off all calls for six months.  
 
A political prisoner
The court has justified Sami Al-Arian’s detention in solitary confinement on the grounds that it is necessary to protect him from other inmates. Nahla Al-Arian disputed this, explaining that when the Palestinian fighter has contact with other inmates, “they only show respect and kindness—many are worried about him.” Their concern is based on overhearing the guards talking about the Palestinian behind his back, she said. “They know he is there as a political prisoner.”

Attorney Linda Moreno, who is appealing the denial of bail to Sami Al-Arian, told the August 3 Palm Beach Post that at the time of her visits the prisoner “walks shackled and bent-over, hands chained behind him, balancing his legal documents on his back which the guards refuse to carry.”

The Tampa Tribune gave prominent coverage August 1 to a recently released court affidavit submitted March 2002 by U.S. Customs special agent David Kane. The article was headlined, “Agent: Al-Arian Organized [Islamic] Jihad from His Home.” The affidavit was drawn up as backing for a warrant to search Muslim-owned businesses and foundations in Herndon, Virginia, that reportedly had contact with the professor. The affidavit was based on materials seized in 1995 raids on Sami Al-Arian’s home and offices.

The article quoted the Palestinian as saying in 1988, “Islam means jihad, resistance, fight and martyrdom,” implying that this contradicted his assertions that he was engaged in nonviolent activities. Nahla Al-Arian rejected this inference. “Martyrdom doesn’t mean killing people,” she told the Tribune, “it means defending your rights. As for resistance, what is the problem? You have no dignity in this world if you just say yes to the slave master.”

At an August 6 hearing Judge James Moody delayed a ruling on an application by Sami Al-Arian and his co-defendants to see the classified evidence. U.S. Attorney Terence Zitek had objected to the request, saying that disclosure of the 21,000 hours of wiretap tapes would reveal “sources and methods” of government intelligence gathering.

In an interview with Al-Sharq al-Awsat, a London-based Saudi newspaper, Sami Al-Arian said that he is working to raise money to pay a legal defense team. “Whoever knows the United States knows that there are two systems of justice,” he said. “One of these systems applies to those who have a first-rate team of lawyers and who, as a consequence, can defy the state’s unlimited resources and defeat its arrogance and pride.” He asked supporters “to lend a hand in order for us to bring the truth to light.”

Contributions to Sami Al-Arian’s defense fund can be sent to: National Liberty Fund, P.O. Box 22580, Alexandria, VA 22304. Letters protesting the prison conditions can be sent to: Honorable Thomas B. McCoun III, U.S. District Court, 801 North Florida Ave., #223 Tampa, FL 33602.  
 
 
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