|
Al-Arian Prosecutors Want His Beliefs Kept Out Of Trial Apr 22, 2005 TAMPA - Federal prosecutors on Thursday launched a four- pronged assault on the Sami Al-Arian defense, asking a judge to shut down any attempts by Al-Arian to justify his actions or those of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Attached to the legal filings was a letter from Al-Arian's attorneys giving more detail than previously made public of Al-Arian's contacts over the years with Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, as well as a list of high-ranking political figures he claims to have spoken to, including Newt Gingrich and Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary of the Department of Homeland Security. According to the letter, Al- Arian was briefed at the Justice Department in July 2001 and met with Clinton in May 1999 and April 2000, with Al Gore in November 1998, and with Hillary Rodham Clinton in October 1999. The letter also indicates Al-Arian met with Bush in March 2003, an apparent typographical error because Al- Arian was imprisoned by then. It has been widely publicized that Al-Arian was photographed at a campaign appearance with Bush in March 2000 when Bush was the governor of Texas. Al-Arian's Attorney Wants Tapes In the letter, Al-Arian's attorney, William Moffitt, asks prosecutors to hand over copies of evidence that might help his case. It asks for tapes of any telephone conversations involving Al-Arian and several high-ranking government officials and politicians he claimed to have had contact with, including former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga.; Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform; House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.; Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham; former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss.; and Vincent Cannistraro, the former head of the CIA's counterterrorism operations. Al-Arian is scheduled to go on trial May 16, along with Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatim Naji Fariz and Ghassan Zayed Ballut, on charges they helped finance and run the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an organization deemed by the U.S. government to be terrorist. The organization has claimed responsibility for suicide bombings in Israel. Moffitt could not be reached for comment Thursday. Al-Arian and his attorneys have repeatedly argued that he is being targeted for his political beliefs and because he promoted the cause of the Palestinian people. {The cause of Islam] Trying To Limit The Defense However, prosecutors on Thursday filed a series of four motions asking U.S. District Judge James Moody to prohibit the defense from asserting political claims or injecting into the trial issues of war and peace in the Middle East. The motions all sought to bar the defense from proceeding under different legal theories that amounted to possible justifications for the violent actions of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad or explanations for the defendants' motives. ``This trial is not the appropriate forum for conducting a referendum on international law, the legality and morality of the existence and boundaries of Israel, or the plight of ethnic Palestinians,'' prosecutors wrote. ``To open the doors to a debate about the merits of extraneous political and religious issues would only serve to divert the jury's attention from the only relevant issue in the case, which is the defendants' innocence or guilt of the charged offenses.'' [They don't know how to fight the case that the defendant wants to present] The specific charges are providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, racketeering and conspiracy. Prosecutors, through the motions filed Thursday, are apparently trying to limit the defendants to evidence relating to whether they did what was alleged in the indictment. ``Allowing the defendants to present evidence, and argue to the jury, the merits of their beliefs about the conflict would only serve to inflame and politicize the trial, while directly embroiling the court in a complex, intractable and unnecessary political debate,'' the prosecutors wrote. {That is ignoring the very reason as to why so many Al-Arians are appearing] Among the motions was one asking the judge to bar the defense from arguing that they or the organization were ``lawful combatants'' in the conflict in the Middle East and, therefore, not subject to criminal convictions.
In that motion, the government asserted that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is not covered by the protections provided by international treaties, such as the Geneva Convention, partly because it is not a recognized government and its members do not abide by international law governing combat. {The Koran will do far better than all of that - in getting Al-Arian condemned]
The prosecution also argued in its motion that Israeli actions don't matter in the trial. ``It is irrelevant to the determination of lawful combatant status whether the actions of the combatants are philosophically, morally or ethically justified or noble.'' In a direct shot at Al-Arian's claims to be a peaceful human rights advocate, prosecutors wrote, ``Persons who covertly support or manage a violent terrorist organization, while masquerading as scholars and civilians or purporting to direct a humanitarian charity, are not entitled to the special protections afforded to lawful combatants under international law.'' This world REFUSES to confront the very cause as to why so many people are being slaughtered in the name of Islam. The Koran thoroughly VIOLATES the U.S. Constitution and incidentally - International laws also!
|
