12-15-2007, 12:44 PM
<b> CAIR Welcomes Lifting of Al-Arian Contempt Charges</b>
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/14/07) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcomed a federal judge’s decision to lift civil contempt charges against Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor who has been serving time for refusing to testify before a grand jury.
Civil contempt charges against Al-Arian were dropped when the grand jury he was subpoenaed to testify before expired. Prosecutors could seek additional contempt charges and jail time when a new grand jury is convened in January.
In 2005, a Florida jury rejected federal charges that Al-Arian operated a cell for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al-Arian later pleaded guilty to one non-violent offense and was scheduled for release and deportation in April 2007.
Al-Arian’s attorneys say the plea agreement freed him from further cooperation with the government, yet the Justice Department has twice attempted to force him to testify before a grand jury. When he refused, he was charged with civil contempt and jailed. Observers say the government’s actions amount to a form of harassment.
Because of federal rules that prohibit time served for contempt charges from counting toward the completion of another sentence, Al-Arian is now serving the remaining 115 days of his original five-year sentence.
“We welcome the judge’s decision to drop the contempt charges and hope the coming months will bring the justice that is so long overdue to Dr. Al-Arian and his family,” said CAIR-Tampa Executive Director Ahmed Bedier. “We continue to appeal to the Department of Justice to end Dr. Al-Arian’s suffering by honoring its original plea agreement.”
The Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace is calling on all of Al-Arian’s supporters to continue to work for Al-Arian's freedom by writing to Attorney General Mukasey and the House and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairs to urge Al-Arian’s release after the remainder of his original prison term is served.
Attorney General
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
(202) 307-6777 Fax
askdoj@usdoj.gov