Gov’t still harasses imprisoned Muslim activist

If you’ve watched any “Law and Order”-type show on television, you know how important the “plea bargain” is to U.S. court proceedings. When the defense and prosecuting attorneys come to an agreement, and the judge goes along with it, that’s supposed to be a done deal, case closed, end of story.

But a vindictive U.S. attorney in Tampa, Fla., has decided to throw all that out in the continuing government efforts to harass Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a Florida academic and Palestinian activist who has been a target of the government’s phony war against “terrorism.”

Last April, the government concluded its case against Dr. Al-Arian with a plea agreement. In return for pleading to several lesser charges, Al-Arian was scheduled to leave the United States after being released from jail in April 2007. In late September, however, the rules all changed. The government is now trying to force Al-Arian to testify against an Islamic organization in a new case in Virginia. If he refuses to testify, he could face further imprisonment.

“It is a clear violation of the plea agreement,” said former attorney William Moffitt, “which was supposed to end his business with the United States.”

Linda Moreno, Moffitt’s co-counsel, told the St. Petersburg Times (Sept. 26): “The plea agreement doesn’t mention cooperation and that is intentional. That Dr. Al-Arian would not cooperate was negotiated.”

Three years ago, just one month before the United States invaded Iraq, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the case against Al-Arian. Ashcroft insisted Al-Arian was “the North American leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad” and asserted that the professor’s arrest was “a milestone in the war against terrorism.”

The right-wing media, from Bill O’Reilly of Fox News to the Tampa Tribune, waged a fervent campaign against the Palestinian activist. Under the Patriot Act, all sorts of dubious evidence was entered into the case. This included some 400,000 wiretapped phone calls, which had been part of a 10-year-long surveillance of Palestinian organizations.

Yet not one phone conversation could be found in which a violent act was plotted. And in a stunning defeat for the government, the jury acquitted Dr. Al-Arian of all the most serious charges, deadlocking 10-to-2 over acquitting him on the others.

In late September, Al-Arian was moved from Tampa to a jail in Virginia. The trip took 72 hours. His arms and legs were continuously shackled. His jailers refuse to accommodate his religious beliefs, depriving him of a Koran and prayer rug. Despite the fact that the Muslim holy month of Ramadan had begun, he was barely given any food or water for over 18 hours at times. Al-Arian is a diabetic, but he was denied his daily medication. His health has suffered as a result.

The Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace has asked supporters to condemn the harassment of Al-Arian. They ask people to contact the Justice Department and the U.S. attorney’s office to demand “the end of the government’s pursuit of Dr. Al-Arian and his continued mistreatment while in federal custody,” and to “request that prosecutors honor the terms of the plea agreement.”