12-07-2007, 07:12 PM
Video Report at http://mahdibray.com
MASNET
WASHINGTON, DC - Dec. 7, 2007 - (MASNET) MAS Freedom (MASF) Executive Director, Mahdi Bray, attended the December 5 premier of "USA vs. Al-Arain", the multi-awarded documentary film about controversial "terrorism-trial" against Dr. Sami Al-Arain, with A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Director, Brian Becker and Mara Verheyden-Hillard of the Partnership for Civil Justice, and more than 800 other attendees.
Bray offers a video report on his blog (view here).
"USA vs. Al-Arian" is a disturbing film on freedom of speech in post 9/11 America and political persecution. The film follows the arrest and trial of Sami Al-Arian, an Arab-American university professor accused of supporting a terrorist organization abroad.
For two-and-a-half years, Dr. Al-Arian was held in solitary confinement, denied basic privileges and given limited access to his attorneys. The film is an intimate family portrait documenting how a tight-knit family unravels before our very eyes as trial preparations, strategy and media spin consume their lives.
Norwegian Director Line Halvorsen has made a damning portrait of the case focusing on the trial's emotional toll.
This is a nightmare come to life, as a man is prosecuted for his beliefs rather than his actions.
In 2006, after three years in solitary confinement with no convictions, Al-Arian agreed to a plea bargain to serve 11 more months in prison. He was to be deported in April 2007, but is still being held in a Virginia jail on civil contempt charges (he refuses to testify in an unrelated case). Dr. Al-Arian appeared in federal court on Oct. 17, 2007 at a hearing scheduled by Judge Gerald Lee to revisit the continuing civil contempt citation. The judge denied Dr. Al-Arian's motion for the contempt to be lifted. No reason was given for his decision. Another hearing is scheduled for mid-December.
View Movie Trailer HERE.
Learn More About Future Premier Dates and Locations HERE.
For more news about Dr. Al-Arian's case see www.freesamialarian.com
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May Allah Puts all this in the balance of his good deeds, Grants him a way out soon ameen.