Vol. 79/No. 7      March 2, 2015

Al-Arian, a professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa and founder of an Islamic school, was indicted in February 2003 under the newly passed Patriot Act. He was charged with being a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

For most of the nearly three years until the trial verdict in December 2005, al-Arian was held in solitary confinement.

The government’s evidence was largely “speeches I delivered, lectures I presented, articles I wrote, magazines I edited, books I owned, conferences I convened, rallies I attended, interviews I gave, news I heard, and websites I never even accessed,” al-Arian said.

Despite the attempt to prejudice the jury by prosecuting his political views, al-Arian was acquitted on eight counts. The jury voted 10-2 for acquittal on the remaining nine counts.

To stop the persecution, al-Arian in 2006 agreed to a plea bargain on one minor charge and was sentenced to 57 months in prison. Prosecutors said there would be no further legal action and he would be deported on release. But in 2008 they demanded he appear before an unrelated grand jury and, when he refused, filed first civil and then criminal contempt charges. In September 2008, he won release under house arrest.

Finally, in 2014 the government agreed to dismiss the changes. In accordance with the deportation order, al-Arian flew to Turkey with his wife, Nahia.  
 
 
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