Vol. 72/No. 14      April 7, 2008

Earlier that day Al-Arian was informed that he would be called to testify before a grand jury, for the third time, only weeks before his scheduled release date. Under his plea agreement, Al-Arian should have been released by April 2007. However, because he did not testify before the previous grand jury investigating Muslim charities, his sentence was suspended and he served one year on civil contempt charges. His current release date is April 7.

Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor, was indicted in 2003 on charges of racketeering, conspiracy to maim and murder, and of providing material support to the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad. In December 2005 the government’s case collapsed when a federal jury in Tampa, Florida, acquitted him of the terrorism charges and deadlocked on other counts. Despite not being convicted on any charges, he was returned to prison.

Al-Arian agreed to plead guilty to “conspiracy to provide services” to Islamic Jihad and be deported from the United States in exchange for the government releasing him from prison.

Instead, the government has kept him in prison and continued its campaign of harassment.

“All Americans should reject this continuing manipulation of our legal system the same way the Tampa jury rejected the case against Dr. Al-Arian when they acquitted him in December 2005,” said Peter Erlinder, professor at William Mitchell School of Law and one of Al-Arian’s attorneys.

“This latest decision to call Dr. Al-Arian before a grand jury clearly breaches his plea bargain and seems a political maneuver to lengthen his prison term,” said the executive director of the National Lawyers Guild, Heidi Boghosian.

Protests to demand freedom for Sami Al-Arian have been organized, including in Raleigh and Butner, North Carolina. For more information on Al-Arian’s defense campaign see www.freesamialarian.com.  
 
 
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