The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 73/No. 4      February 2, 2009

 
Judge sets ‘contempt’
trial for Sami al-Arian
 
BY SUSAN LAMONT  
ALEXANDRIA, Virginia—Sami al-Arian, a supporter of the Palestinian national liberation struggle, will go on trial March 9 on criminal contempt charges, Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled January 16. The courtroom was packed with nearly 70 of al-Arian’s supporters and family members. Many had made the 900-mile drive from Tampa, Florida. Others, including representatives of the Muslim American Society and Arab-American Federation, came from the Washington, D.C., area and New York City.

Brinkema denied a series of motions by al-Arian’s attorneys aimed at getting the charges against him dismissed and ending government persecution of the activist.

Al-Arian was a professor of computer science at the University of South Florida in Tampa when he was arrested in February 2003 on frame-up charges of terrorism.

Despite being found innocent on the terrorism charges by a federal jury in December 2005, which also voted 10-2 in favor of his innocence on other charges, al-Arian was returned to prison. He later agreed to plead guilty to “conspiracy to provide services” to Palestinian Islamic Jihad in return for immunity from further prosecution and agreement to be deported from the United States.

Despite the plea agreement, al-Arian remained in prison. In April 2008 he was granted bail, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement then incarcerated him. He was finally released in early September.

On June 26, government prosecutors charged al-Arian with criminal contempt for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury investigating a Virginia-based Islamic organization. These are the charges that Brinkema refused to dismiss at the January 16 hearing.

While allowing the government’s case to go forward, Brinkema denied a prosecution motion for an anonymous jury, in which the identity of jurors is not made public. She also ruled that the jury will be given at least some of the background on the case, including that al-Arian was acquitted of the previous charge of terrorism.

For more information contact www.freesamialarian.com.  
 
 
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