Dec. 13, 2005
ABC Action News

TAMPA – Former USF professor Sami Al-Arian was not convicted of taking part in terrorism, but the government still hasn’t set him free. Now, an interesting mix of supporters is calling for his release.

“Pull back those bars and let these men go home to their families,” Dr. Warren Clarke shouted at a Tuesday rally. “It has been long enough and they have suffered enough!”

Al-Arian and co-defendant Sameeh Hamoudeh have been in jail for nearly three years. Last week, a jury cleared the men of most charges, although it was deadlocked on some counts against Al-Arian.

The Justice Department still hasn’t decided whether to re-try Al-Arian so he will remain behind bars. But some folks wonder how that could be justice.

“The jury spoke and we have to honor what they said. Now, he wasn’t found guilty on any of the charges, so that means he needs to be let out until they decide to retry him or not,” stated Ahmed Bedier, the Tampa director of the Council for American Islamic Relations.

“I’m tired of waiting. I’m tired of all this pain that we went through. And I hope this nightmare will end soon,” added Nahla Al-Arian, Sami’s wife.

But in the usual crowd of protestors outside federal court — which included three-dozen ministers, peace activists, and Arab-Americans — there were people like Neil Cosentino, a former fighter pilot who retired after working for the federal government.

“I had three tours in Vietnam and we didn’t fight for what’s going on here. The guy, Al-Arian, ought to be freed and taken out. He’s paid more than his penalty,” he observed.

A few yards away, in a conservative gray suit, attorney Andrew Rock joined the protest to free Al-Arian.

“The government has held Sami Al-Arian for three years, two and a half years, failed to present enough evidence to get a conviction, and now they don’t want to release him,” he explained.

People who stayed away from protests while Al-Arian was on trial are now coming to his aid now that he’s been found not guilty. But it may be too little too late.

People close to the case say the best Al-Arian can hope for is to be allowed to leave the country and never come back. But after two and a half years in jail — much of it in solitary confinement — that might not be too bad.