SAMI AL-ARIAN

http://socialistworker.org/2008/09/04/long-delayed-freedom

SAMI AL-ARIAN'S LONG-DELAYED FREEDOM

Nicole Colson reports on a proud victory for the family of witch-hunt victim
Dr. Sami Al-Arian.

September 4, 2008 | Issue 680

IN A long-overdue victory, Palestinian activist Dr. Sami Al-Arian was
released on bail September 2 and reunited with members of his family for the
first time since his arrest in early 2003.

"[I]t feels very unbelievable and surreal that he's finally with us after
more than five-and-a-half years of being apart and of only being able to see
him behind glass. It's breathtaking, really," his daughter, Laila Al-Arian,
described her feelings to Amy Goodman of /Democracy Now!/

"And the whole time, we--me and my siblings--just kept telling each other,
'Is this a dream? Is this real?' We couldn't believe it. And even when we
first heard the news, we were a bit skeptical, because we've been in this
situation so many times, where we thought my father would finally be
released, and he wouldn't. So we kind of held back our happiness and joy
until he was finally with us."

Sami Al-Arian is the former University of South Florida professor who has
been the victim of an ongoing government witch-hunt since the Bush
administration, in the days following the September 11 attacks, accused him
of using an Islamic think tank and a Muslim school and charity as a cover for
raising funds to finance "terrorism" through the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Though then-Attorney General John Ashcroft held up Al-Arian's arrest as an
essential part of the "war on terror" here at home, after a six-month trial
costing more than $50 million, a Florida jury in 2006 refused to find
Al-Arian guilty of a single count of the 17 charges against him.

Facing the prospect of a lengthy and costly retrial, not to mention further
separation from his wife and children, Al-Arian agreed to plead guilty to a
single count of the least-serious charge against him in exchange for what was
supposed to be a minor additional sentence and voluntary deportation.

Instead, before his scheduled release date, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon
Kromberg had Al-Arian moved to Virginia to try to compel his testimony in an
unrelated investigation of the International Institute of Islamic Thought
(IIIT)--despite an explicit agreement with Florida prosecutors, recorded in
court transcripts, that Al-Arian would be exempt from all future testimony.

Because of his continued refusal to testify, Al-Arian has had his prison stay
extended first with civil, and then criminal contempt charges. But according
to his defense lawyers and family, the government's request of his testimony
is nothing more than a trap--designed to keep Al-Arian imprisoned
indefinitely on contempt charges if he refuses to testify, or allow
government prosecutors a reason to charge him with perjury if he were to
testify.

As Laila Al-Arian noted on /Democracy Now/, "[W]hat we've learned along the
way [about Gordon Kromberg]...is that he's not really interested in the
truth. What he's interested in really is retrying the case that the
government lost so badly in Florida."

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AL-ARIAN'S ORIGINAL sentence and his sentence for civil contempt ended in
April, but the government has fought to keep him behind bars.

On August 8, at the most recent pre-trial hearing in his upcoming criminal
contempt case, the prosecution's bias was once again on display. At the
hearing, Judge Leonie Brinkema postponed the upcoming trial until a separate
appeal by Al-Arian's lawyers could be ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In her ruling, Brinkema questioned whether prosecutors have been overzealous
in filing additional charges against Al-Arian before the Supreme Court could
rule, and questioned whether the most recent contempt charges violate the
terms of Al-Arian's plea agreement, which bars the Justice Department from
standing in the way of Al-Arian's deportation after he served his sentence.

When Judge Brinkema once again ordered Al-Arian released on bail into the
care of his daughter Laila, the anti-Muslim racism of Assistant U.S. Attorney
Kromberg was on full display.

Kromberg objected to bail, arguing that, as a Muslim woman, Laila Al-Arian--a
well-respected author and activist--would be too weak and submissive to
oppose any potential attempt by her father to flee. "[I]n this particular
culture, she would not be able to stop him from leaving," he stated in open
court.

"[E]verybody was appalled," Laila Al-Arian told Amy Goodman. "I think mouths
dropped all over the courtroom. There were gasps. And before our lawyer even
had an opportunity to say anything, the judge interrupted him and said, 'I
got this covered.' She was appalled at what was said, and said, 'This is not
only an insult to Dr. Al-Arian and his father, this is an insult to the
court.'...I just think this particular prosecutor can't help himself from
having these racist outbursts."

Despite Brinkema rejecting Kromberg's claim, the government moved to
circumvent her order--with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) taking
custody of Al-Arian, as it has in the past when it appeared that he could be
released from jail.

According to ICE, since Al-Arian is technically under a deportation order, it
should retain the right to keep Al-Arian in custody in order to, in theory,
deport him under his original plea agreement. But ICE has never moved to
deport Al-Arian when it had him in custody, instead simply holding him in
detention until federal prosecutors could drag him back into court once
again.

Al-Arian's attorneys, however, recently filed a petition for habeas corpus
with the court, challenging his continued unlawful detention by ICE. Brinkema
then set a deadline for immigration authorities to explain their delay in
releasing Al-Arian, and, according to Laila Al-Arian, "since they essentially
had no response, their decision was to release him, finally."

While an important victory for the Al-Arian family, Sami Al-Arian's release
on bail does not end his ordeal. While out on bail, he is forced to remain
under house arrest at his daughter's home. He also still faces pending
criminal contempt charges, and prosecutors have shown that they are
all-too-willing to go to any lengths to keep him imprisoned.

That's why the efforts of activists--through phone calls, letters and
more--will continue to be key in the coming weeks and months to winning Dr.
Al-Arian's freedom once and for all.

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What you can do
Visit the Free Sami Al-Arian [1] Web site to get regular updates about his
case and learn more about what you can do to protest the government's
continued persecution of Dr. Al-Arian.

You can send donations to help the Al-Arian family defray the costs of more
than five years of legal defense to: Liberty Defense Fund, P.O. Box 1211,
24525 E. Welches Road, Welches, OR 97067.

The documentary film /USA v. Al-Arian [2]/ can be viewed on the Internet at
the LinkTV Web site.

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[1] http://www.freesamialarian.com
[2] http://www.linktv.org/programs/usavs