February 20, 2009 – Alexandria, VA – At a pre-trial hearing today, federal judge Leonie Brinkema denied a government motion requesting her to reconsider a previous ruling. At the last hearing, Judge Brinkema ruled that the government must provide information to the defense and the court regarding the original 2006 plea negotiations between the Department of Justice and Dr. Al-Arian’s attorneys.

Prior to the hearing, Dr. Al-Arian’s attorneys submitted at least four declarations detailing the 2006 plea negotiations, and asserting the fact that non-cooperation was at the heart of the deal. Yesterday, the defense submitted the latest two detailed declarations [click here for the first declaration (Moffitt) and here for the second (Moreno)] by Dr. Al-Arian’s attorneys from the 2005 trial, Bill Moffitt and Linda Moreno. As these declarations reveal, the issue of cooperation was indeed central to the negotiations.