More "due process" at Guantanamo

[lilithu]

This letter below is from FaithfulAmerica.org. I'll just add for the UUs who might read this that an Action of Immediate Witness was passed at General Assembly two years ago, calling for the immediate release of Dr. al Arian. Obviously, nothing positive has happened since then. So for UUs in particular but also everyone else who has a heart, please take action to right this injustice.

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In February 2003 a University of South Florida professor, Dr. Sami al Arian, a Palestinian Muslim living in the U.S. for the past 32 years, was arrested on suspicion of terrorism. During his pre-trial detention, Dr. al Arian was denied basic human dignities and civil rights. He was held in unduly harsh conditions which included near solitary confinement, heavy shackling during visits with his attorneys and limits on his visits with his family.

Following a protracted trial, a jury of his peers found the government’s evidence insufficient and acquitted Dr. al Arian of all violence-related charges against him. The majority of the jury voted for acquital on all remaining charges, in most cases by a margin of 10-2 in Dr. al Arian's favor. What followed was a complex effort on the part of the U.S. government to call al Arian to testify before various grand juries in an effort to block his release. Many believe it has more to do with his views on our government's policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue than about terrorism. (Read the details here)

The U.S. government made a plea agreement with al Arian which was to have led to his release by April of 2007. However, as the release approached Dr. al Arian was called yet again to testify before a different grand jury, causing his prison time be extended again for up to 18 additional months. This is a clear violation of the plea agreement on the part of the U.S. Government. There is nothing to stop the use of additional grand juries to extend his prison time again and again and again. So, on January 22, Dr. al Arian began a hunger strike. He has lost 45 pounds in 43 days and has been moved to a prison medical facility where his health continues to deteriorate. Yet he remains resolute that the injustice must be addressed through whatever means he has left to use.

As Americans as well as people of faith and conscience, we understand there is something fundamentally unfair, and probably illegal, about extending a person's prison time with no end in sight. While we realize this is a complex issue, we are asking that you do two things – and quickly, as Sami al Arian’s health is deteriorating.

1)Please visit the website www.http://www.freesamialarian.com/home.htm to learn more. If you are then convinced that this injustice must stop, then:

2)Please use this page to send a letter to the U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, calling for him to simply honor the plea agreement and release Dr. al Arian, instead of using the grand jury system to extend al Arian’s prison time indefinitely.

We must not allow religious or political discrimination, however disguised, to go unchecked, especially at the highest levels of our justice system. Please take time to understand this issue, and then take action.

 

[greatcalgarian]

According to the American, this type of things only happen in communist countries like China who has no human right. Are you sure this thing is happening in America? You are not telling a hoax, right?

 

[greatcalgarian]

Wiki's story appears to have many contradicting details?

Sami Amin Al-Arian (Arabic: سامي العريا&#1606 (born January 14, 1958 in Kuwait) is a Palestinian-American computer engineer who was convicted of helping Palestinian Islamic Jihad and sentenced to four years in prison[1]
Al-Arian, a former university professor, was arrested by the United States government in 2003 on charges of funding terrorists. He was acquitted on eight of the 17 charges against him last December after a six month trial with three co-defendants. On April 14, 2006 al-Arian pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to provide services to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and agreed to be deported. In return, federal prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining eight charges against him.
Al-Arian was sentenced to the 57 months in prison and given him credit for time served. He is to serve the balance of 19 months and then be deported.
He has recently refused to testify to a federal grand jury in Alexandria,Va., in an investigation of the International Institute of Islamic Thought's alleged financing of terror because he believes, "his life would be in danger if he testified."[1]Further, Arian claims he has no information that could further the investigation and his attorneys argued that the grand jury subpoena violates Arian's plea agreement with US prosecutors.[1] These arguments were rejected by a federal judge in Florida and Al-Arian begun a hunger strike on January 22, 2007, to "protest continued government harassment."[1][2]

 

[greatcalgarian]

This may be interesting?

After voting booths closed, Florida emerged as the key state. As every adult will remember, when the votes were counted in other states, the electoral college decision awaited the vote total in Florida, Al-Arian’s place of residence, where he had already established his reputation as a forceful, effective leader of Florida Muslims. On election day, he masterfully mustered the Florida Muslim vote for Bush. A poll Al-Arian conducted showed that 91 percent of Muslims supported Bush. A survey by the Council on American Islamic Relations showed that 20,600 of the votes Bush received in Florida were cast by first-time voters. In all, Florida voters provided a startling plurality of 65,000 votes for Bush, more than four times his final margin as reported to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the final decision for Bush occurred.
If Florida Muslims had not been energized by the pro-Bush enthusiasm of Al-Arian and his campaign team, Gore would have been elected president. It is reasonable, therefore, to credit Al-Arian with giving Bush a key to the White House. Now he languishes in a prison cell reserved for troublemakers—the undeserving victim of Bush’s frantic quest for a trophy of the terrorism war. The Al-Arian episode is one of the most miserable and depressing among the grotesque absurdities that have flooded the nation since the 9/11 horror.

 

[MaddLlama]

This may be interesting?

It would be more interesting if there were a reference to go along with that..

 

[greatcalgarian]

It would be more interesting if there were a reference to go along with that..

My apology, forgot to include the link, now I have forgotten where I got that from:sorry1:

 

[greatcalgarian]

Found it:

http://www.wrmea.com/archives/July_2006/0607032.html

Paul Findley article

 

[greatcalgarian]

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=24738

Sleeping with the enemies?

[FONT=Arial,Helvetica][SIZE=-2]Laura and George W. Bush (3rd and 4th from left) with Islamic Jihad frontman Sami Al-Arian (third from right) and family (son, Abdullah "Big Dude" Al-Arian, is on far left).[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[greatcalgarian]

And the counterpunch said it all:
http://www.counterpunch.org/sugg05042006.html
[SIZE=-1]The only reasonable explanation is that Al-Arian was set up by the "recommendation" from the U.S. Attorney's office for a light sentence. Snookered. The feds never intended for Al-Arian to leave jail anytime soon. Judge Moody did as ordered.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]The government's motivation? Revenge. Occam's Razor--the simplest explanation that fits the facts. The prosecutors have routinely lied and deceived in presenting their case. This final deception was in character. What they couldn't win in a fair trial, they rejoiced at achieving by deceit.[/SIZE]

 

[Radio Frequency X]

It would be more interesting if there were a reference to go along with that..

lol, no it wouldn't.

 

[greatcalgarian]

Al Arian is supposed to be buddy buddie with G Bush, he helped Bush to get along with Muslim, and he helped to sway the Muslim's vote in California and get Bush elected. Before 9/11, he was the blue eye boy. However, not sure what happened after 9/11, he has been picked up by the FBI via the Patriot Act. Perhaps he knew something and refused to talk, and hence Bush gave the green light to have him put under arrest, and see whether he can be made to cooperate and helped to provide supporting story for Bush government story regarding 9/11. Looks like he knew nothing, and it is too late for the FBI to retract their original stand that he knew something. Hence the continuing retention and torture, and hopefully Al Arian will break down in the end and be completely neutralized and serve as a warning to whoever that sleep with Bush and did not play along when told to.