Sami Al-Arian Acquitted

CAIRO, December7 , 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The acquittal of a US naturalized Palestinian professor by a federal jury of terror charges has questioned the credibility of US "secret intelligence" and restored confidence in the US judiciary, analysts and US Muslim activists said on Wednesday, December7 .

Sami Al-Arian, a Kuwaiti-born Palestinian, was found not guilty Tuesday, December6 , on eight criminal counts related to "terrorist" support, perjury and immigration violations.

Juliette Kayyem, a terrorism legal analyst at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, said the outcome shows that US juries can seriously consider both government accusations of terrorism and any evidence.

"This case has been sort of a tortured case for the United States," Kayyem, a Justice Department official from 1995 to1999 , told the Washington Post.

A male juror said he perceived Arian's acquittal not as a First Amendment issue but as a failure of the government to prove its case.

"I didn't see the evidence," said the man, who declined to give his name.

David Cole, a law professor at Georgetown University, told the New York Times the verdict amounted to a rejection of the government's "sweeping guilt by association theory."

Prosecutors, who had been building a case against Arian for 10 years, relied on some20 , 000hours of taped conversations culled from wiretaps on Arian and his associates.

Officials said he had helped finance and direct "terrorist" attacks in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, while using his faculty position teaching computer engineering at the University of South Florida as a cover for his "terrorist" activities.

But ultimately, the jury found him not guilty of the charge of conspiring to kill people overseas, and it deadlocked on three of the other most serious terrorism charges.

Justice Department officials said they were considering whether to re-try Arian on the counts on which the jury did not reach verdicts.

Arian is to remain in jail on an immigration matter, but his lawyer said he would probably file a motion next week asking to have him released on bond.

Political Prosecution

"This was a political prosecution from the start, and I think the jury realized that," Linda Moreno, one of Arian's defence lawyers, told the Times.

"They looked over at Sami al-Arian; they saw a man who had taken unpopular positions on issues thousands of miles away, but they realized he wasn't a terrorist. The truth is a powerful thing," he added, referring to Arian's staunch support of the Palestinian cause and harsh criticism for the Israeli practices.

His attorney William Moffitt rested his defence without presenting evidence. In court, he argued that the government sought to muzzle his client's avowed antipathy to Israel.

"This case concerns Dr. al-Arian's right to speak, our right to hear what he has to say and the attempt of the powerful to silence him," he said during the case.

Arian's family members and other three co-defendants -- Sameeh T. Hammoudeh, Ghassan Ballut and Hatim Fariz, who were also acquitted -- wept in court on Tuesday as the verdicts were read.

"Fair Trial"

As for the local Muslim community, Muslims in Florida celebrated the verdict and gathered Tuesday night at the local mosque Arian helped found.

Arian "loves America, and he believes in the system, and thank God the system did not fail him," his wife, Nahla, said outside the federal courthouse as throngs of family members, supporters and lawyers celebrated the justice done to him.

Outside the courtroom, Ahmad Bedier, regional director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), praised the verdict.

"It will not only restore faith in the justice system by American Muslims but also by Muslims all over the world who doubted justice in America," Bedier told the Post.

"This sends a very positive message that Muslims can receive a fair trial in America.

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