http://blogs.creativeloafing.com/dailyloaf/2009/12/27/the-10-biggest-stories-of-the-decade-in-tampa-bay/ The 10 biggest stories of the decade in Tampa Bay December 27, 2009 at 10:06 am by Mitch Perry I came here from San Francisco to work for WMNF radio in the spring of 2000. (On that first weekend, Erin Brockovich was the must-see movie of the moment and[Read More…]
CounterPunch Where’s the Justice at the Justice Department? The AIPAC Spy Case May 4, 2009 By JAMES G. ABOUREZK Link: http://www.counterpunch.org/abourezk05042009.html The big news last week was the defection of Republican Senator Arlen Specter to the Democrats; the bankruptcy filing of the Chrysler Corporation, and finally, the retirement of Justice[Read More…]
CounterPunch May 4, 2009 A Defender of Civil Rights Mourning William Moffitt By SAMI AL-ARIAN CounterPunch Link:>> Mourning Bill Moffitt For over three years during my ordeal with the US government between 2003 and 2006, I was placed in solitary confinement, having no contact visits with anyone except my attornies,[Read More…]
PSLweb.orgApril 26, 2009 By: PSL Washington, D.C. Link: Click here Family and supporters pledge to continue their struggle Family and supporters of Dr. Sami Al-Arian held a press conference April 24 in front of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., to demand that all charges in his case[Read More…]
Truthdig.com Mar 30, 2009 AP Photo / Kevin Wolf Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, right, with his attorney Jonathan Turley leaves federal court in Alexandria, Va. By Chris Hedges Link: Click Here or: Here (AlterNet.org) U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema is scheduled to issue a ruling in the[Read More…]
CounterPunch March 24, 2009 End of a Witch Hunt? By: Nicole Colson Link: Click here Supporters of Dr. Sami Al-Arian are cautiously optimistic after several court hearings where the government was left scrambling to justify its continued campaign of persecution. Al-Arian is the former University of South Florida professor accused[Read More…]
A Legal Odyssey: Illustration of ethical breaches, disdain for due process and anti-Muslim bias By Wendy Malloy / Tampa March 19, 2009 Former University of South Florida professor Sami al-Arian Excerpts Unfortunately for U.S. prosecutors, none of (the evidence) actually made al-Arian a terrorist — PIJ’s North American leader, they[Read More…]
March 11, 2009 By Scott Horton Link: Click here The Associated Press reports:The Justice Department may have hoodwinked a defendant in a high-profile terrorism case into thinking his plea bargain would protect him from further prosecutions, a federal judge said Monday. Monday’s hearing in U.S. District Court was the latest[Read More…]
ASSOCIATED PRESS March 9, 2009 By: Matthew Barakat Link: Click here ALEXANDRIA, Va.: The Justice Department may have hoodwinked a defendant in a high-profile terrorism case into thinking his plea bargain would protect him from further prosecutions, a federal judge said Monday. Monday’s hearing in U.S. District Court was the latest[Read More…]
By Meg Laughlin
Link: Click here
ALEXANDIRA, Va. – A federal judge ruled Friday that Sami Al-Arian will stand trial in March for criminal contempt.
Al-Arian had requested that the charge be dismissed based on “selective prosecution.”
But, while U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed with Al-Arian that such prosecutions are “rare” and that the facts of his case are “absolutely unique,” the judge said a jury would have to decide if Al-Arian committed a crime.
According to federal prosecutors in Virginia, the criminal contempt charge stems from Al-Arian’s refusal to testify before a grand jury about the actions of a Virginia think tank, the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).
Over 16 years ago, the think tank gave $50,000 to WISE (World and Islam Studies Enterprise), a former think tank on Middle Eastern issues at the University of South Florida, run by Al-Arian. Federal prosecutors want Al-Arian to testify about the details of that transaction.
But, according to documents filed by Al-Arian’s attorneys, Al-Arian “did cooperate and answer questions on IIIT” for federal prosecutors, which shows, wrote the defense attorneys, that the Virginia prosecutors are “ultimately not interested in IIIT … but want to revisit the Tampa trial.”The Tampa trial ended in December 2005 when a jury acquitted Al-Arian of eight terrorism charges, some related to the finan cial transactions of WISE, and deadlocked on nine other charges, 10 to 2 in favor of acquittal.
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