Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
January 5, 2006

Press Conference and Rally to support Dr. Al-Arian

On Friday, Jan. 6, 2006, one month after Dr. Al-Arian was acquitted
by a jury in Tampa, supporters will gather at the Federal Courthouse
for a status hearing of determination about next legal steps in this
case at 9:30 a.m., followed by a press conference and rally calling
for a FAIR AND JUST RESOLUTION to the case.

WHEN: Friday, Jan. 6, 2006 at 9:30am, press conference and rally
immediately follow.

WHERE: U.S. Federal Courthouse, 801 N. Florida Ave., Tampa, FL 33602
(Downtown Tampa)

List of participating organizations:
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR National)
Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)
American Muslim Alliance
Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
American Muslim Society
Friends of Human Rights
United Church of Christ
and more…

While the jury found Dr. Al-Arian innocent and 10 out of 12 jurors
wanted to acquit him on all charges, Dr. Al-Arian has remained in
jail (in solitary confinement!) for a month. And this after almost
three years in solitary confinement. Now is the time to express
outrage at this treatment.

Several leaders representing national and regional organizations are
expected to attend, including Dr. Agha Saeed, National Chair of the
American Muslim Alliance, and Coordinator of the California Civil
Rights Alliance. A statement by Dr. Saeed follows:

Without being proven guilty of any crime in any court of law, Dr.
Arian, an academic and highly regarded civil rights leader, has been
kept for almost three years at Coleman Federal Penitentiary’s
Special Housing Unit (SHU), normally reserved for convicted federal
felons with a record of violence or disruptive behavior. Keeping
Dr. Al-Arian at that facility under solitary confinement has meant
punishing him without proving his guilt in any court of law.

In a special two-page article about Dr. Al-Arian, TIME magazine has
reported that years of FBI investigation found “no real links
between al-Arian and terrorist acts. Nonetheless, says a former FBI
supervisor involved in the case, in late 2002 word came down from
Ashcroft to build an al-Arian indictment. “We were in shock, but
those were our marching orders,” says the supervisor, who felt that
the Justice Department was rushing to indict before it had really
appraised the evidence. (`When terror charges just won’t stick”,
TIME, December 19, 2005, pp. 46-47)

The Al-Arian case received extensive media coverage in Europe,
China, Russia, South Asia and the Middle East. The whole world is
watching to see whether or not the US Government will accept the
court’s verdict. Amnesty International’s recent statement, in part,
reads: “[T]he jury had found insufficient evidence after a
protracted trial to convict on the most serious charges, including
conspiracy to maim or murder, finding no link between Al-Arian’s
fundraising activities in support of Palestinians and knowledge of
or intent to commit acts of violence. Noting the sweeping nature of
some of the remaining charges, the organization urges the government
to seriously consider whether it is in the interests of justice to
retry him on those charges.”

The Tampa court’s verdict in the Al-Arian case is already having a
global impact on winning the hearts and minds of Muslims by
demonstrating that America is a nation in which the judiciary can be
independent of political pressures, and citizens serving on juries
can reach a verdict based on the evidence, not on fear or prejudice.
However, a recent headline in the Washington Post says it all: “Ex
professor won court case but not his freedom.”

Wasting more tax dollars by prosecuting the remaining charges, on
which the jury was deadlocked 10 to 2 in favor of Dr. Al-Arian,
would be interpreted by many as an attempt to seek to overturn the
jury’s decision.

Please join us at this important event. Let’s make our voices heard.

==

A Message and Request From Pastor Warren Clark:

I am pastor of First United Church (UCC) of Tampa, and a leader of
the Tampa Bay Friends of Human Rights. I have been visiting with
Sami Al Arian in jail almost every week since March. Dr. Al-Arian
will remain in jail… and in legal limbo, unless there is a broad
call for his release. I am asking you to write a letter asking for
fair procedures in the resolution of the case against Dr. Al-Arian.
He should be released on bail while awaiting next moves by the
government. I have seen first hand the heavy emotional toll on his
family. They have borne this burden amazingly well, but the humane
thing to do is to at least let him be with his family. I would also
urge whatever appropriate organization or group that you are a part
of to make a public statement, as Amnesty has done.

Here is where to write letters or send statements:

E-MAIL, CALL and WRITE Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales

E-MAIL: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

PHONE: 202-514-2001 and 202-353-1555

MAIL: U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

The other decision maker is Paul Perez, Chief Prosecutor. Please ask
him to drop all charges and free Dr. Al-Arian.

Any e-mail can be sent to steve.cole@usdoj.gov
Ask that it be forwarded to Paul Perez

Please CC to me, Pastor Warren Clark, at FLHIST@aol.com Thanks.

==
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Public Statement

AI Index: AMR 51/204/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 345
20 December 2005

USA: Amnesty International seeks fair procedures in resolution of
case against Dr. Sami Al-Arian

Amnesty International notes the recent acquittal by a jury of the
most serious of terrorism-related charges against former Florida
professor Sami Al-Arian, and urges fair procedures in the resolution
of outstanding charges against him, on which the jury deadlocked.

Dr Sami Al-Arian was arrested in February 2003 charged with
conspiring to aid Palestinian Islamic Jihad to maim and kill
Israelis, charges he has always denied. For much of his pre-trial
detention, Al-Arian was held in near solitary confinement in a
maximum security prison in harsh conditions. Amnesty International
raised concern with the US government that the conditions under
which he was held as a pre-trial detainee were unnecessarily
punitive. These included heavy shackling during visits with his
attorneys, denial of adequate exercise, limits on writing materials
and visits with his family and other deprivations.

Amnesty International urges the US authorities to ensure that Sami
Al-Arian is afforded humane treatment and due process in any further
proceedings taken against him. Amnesty International notes that the
jury had found insufficient evidence after a protracted trial to
convict on the most serious charges, including conspiracy to maim or
murder, finding no link between Al-Arian’s fundraising activities in
support of Palestinians and knowledge of or intent to commit acts of
violence. Noting the sweeping nature of some of the remaining
charges, the organization urges the government to seriously consider
whether it is in the interests of justice to retry him on those
charges.

The government has indicated that it may try to deport Sami Al-Arian
instead of retrying him. Should this be the case, Amnesty
International urges that Dr Al-Arian be afforded a full and fair
opportunity to contest any evidence used in deportation proceedings.
As Dr Al-Arian is a stateless Palestinian, it is essential that the
United States ensures his safety and that an appropriate host
country can be found.

Given that Dr Al-Arian has not been convicted of any crime after
nearly three years in prison “often in harshly punitive conditions”
the government should not now leave him in legal limbo during any
protracted consideration of his case.

—END.