CAIR Welcomes Release of Dr. Sami Al-Arian

(WASHINGTON D.C., 9/2/08) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today welcomed the release of Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a former Florida professor who has been in federal custody for more than five years. A judge ordered him freed on bail to await trial for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury.

“We welcome Dr. Al-Arian’s release and hope that it is an indication that justice may ultimately be served in this disturbing case,” said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad. “After so many years of anguish, the Al-Arian children will finally be able to spend Ramadan with their father.”
 
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 a lesser charge and was scheduled for release and deportation.

A documentary film, "USA vs. Al-Arian," offers a family portrait that documents the Al-Arian family's desperate attempt to fight terrorism charges leveled by the U.S. government.

Al - Arian Released on Bail

(Washington, DC - 9/2/08) -- The Muslim Public Affairs Council today welcomed the release of former professor Sami Al-Arian from federal custody. Al-Arian was released on bail and will be restricted to home detention while he awaits trial for contempt of court.

Immigration authorities released Al-Arian hours before a federal judge had ordered the agency to explain Al-Arian's continued detention.

Since his arrest five years ago, Al-Arian's case has become an example of what many American Muslims perceived to be numerous post-9/11 political persecutions of individuals using tactics that amount to little more than guilt by association.

A former Florida university professor, Al-Arian was arrested in 2003 on charges of funding terrorism. In December 2005, a jury acquitted him of 8 of the 17 charges brought against him and was hung on the remaining charges.  In April 2006, Dr. Al-Arian pleaded guilty to a single non-terrorism related count of conspiracy and agreed to be deported.

Despite the U.S. government's representation that Dr. Al-Arian would not be compelled to testify against others, Dr. Al-Arian was subpoenaed and jailed for refusing to testify against others.  Even after a civil contempt charge was lifted in 2007, the Justice Department again subpoenaed Dr. Al-Arian to testify before another grand jury in 2008. He currently faces contempt of court charges in federal court in Virginia for failing to testify to a grand jury.

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