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[Rafil Dhafir, M.D. is a central (upstate) New York oncologist who<br>
sought to help sick Iraqi children in the 1990s. Here is Madis<br>
Senner's latest update, sent this afternoon:]<br><br>
For Immediate Release <br>
madis senner 315-463-5369 madis @twcny.rr.com<br><br>
Rafil's Homepage:<br>
<a href="http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/FreeDhafir.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/FreeDhafir.htm<br><br>
</a>TARGETED MUSLIM DOCTOR CONVICTED<br><br>
Supporters Shocked and Surprised<br><br>
Dr. Rafil Dhafir arrested on February 26, 2003, as a potential<br>
terrorist (to read Ashcroft Statement<br>
<a href="http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/February/03_crm_119.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/February/03_crm_119.htm</a>)
was found<br>
guilty on 59 of the 60 charges against him. When the terrorist<br>
claims failed to materialize the government expanded its case to<br>
include Medicare fraud and other charges. Dhafir was found guilty<br>
of charity fraud, breaking the sanctions against Iraq and Medicare<br>
fraud among other things. He was only acquitted of charge 3
in a<br>
60-count indictment that dealt with money laundering.<br><br>
Dr. Dhafir is to be sentenced on June 20, 2005.<br><br>
Dr. Dhafir is one of the only, if not the only, person to be
arrested<br>
for breaking the sanctions against Iraq. The only thing that<br>
distinguished Dr.<br><br>
Dhafir from the others that similarly defied the sanctions was his<br>
Muslim faith.<br><br>
In a pretrial motion Defense Attorney Devereaux Cannick asked that<br>
the charges be dropped against Dr. Dhafir because he was being<br>
selectively prosecuted (To read the motion<br>
<a href="http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/DhafirBailMotion.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/DhafirBailMotion.htm</a>).<br><br>
Because of this pretrial ruling the judge did not allow the defense<br>
to raise the issue of selective prosecution and ask why Dr. Dhafir<br>
was being targeted when countless other individuals had blatantly<br>
and willfully defied the sanctions and were not charged. This has<br>
been documented with testimony from those that similarly defied the<br>
sanctions at:<br><br>
<a href="http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/OperationFreeDhafir.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/OperationFreeDhafir.htm<br><br>
</a>In another pretrial ruling the Judge prevented the defense from<br>
questioning why Dr. Dhafir had been arrested--so they could not<br>
raise the issue of terrorism and the government's intent in
arresting<br>
Dr. Dhafir. Arguably this handicapped the defense.<br><br>
Going into the trial there was a question as to whether in a post<br>
9-11 environment the Dr. could find a fair jury. In an effort to<br>
find an unbiased jury the court sent out a pretrial 44-page<br>
questionnaire to prospective jurors. Some of the comments that came<br>
back were very racist. To read more about the questionnaire go
to:<br><br>
<a href="http://www.syracuse.com/news/crime/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1096275470208011.xml" eudora="autourl">http://www.syracuse.com/news/crime/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-1/1096275470208011.xml<br><br>
</a>One of the contentious issues of the trial had been the
coverage<br>
of the trial by the local paper, the Syracuse Post Standard.
Several<br>
supporters set up blogs to document what they saw as unfair and<br>
prejudiced coverage. To access two of these blogs go to:<br><br>
<a href="http://www.dhafirtrial.net/" eudora="autourl">http://www.dhafirtrial.net/</a>
<a href="http://dontsmeardhafir.blogspot.com/" eudora="autourl">http://dontsmeardhafir.blogspot.com/<br><br>
</a>Dr. Dhafir's supporters were shocked and surprised that he was<br>
convicted of so many charges. Several that had attended the trial<br>
on a regular basis questioned whether they had been sitting in the<br>
same courtroom as the jury.<br><br>
Others said that this was another sign that there are two systems<br>
of justice in our country--one for rich and white folks, the other<br>
for the poor, people of color and Muslims. Some saw deeper symbolism<br>
and wondered what this verdict says of our country referring to a<br>
recent Cornell study that found 44% of Americans would favor<br>
restricting the civil liberties of Muslims in America (To read the<br>
survey go to: <a href="http://www.comm.cornell.edu/msrg/report1a.pdf" eudora="autourl">http://www.comm.cornell.edu/msrg/report1a.pdf<br><br>
</a>The lawyers were going to meet with Dr. Dhafir to determine what<br>
they were going to do next, if anything. I am hopeful that the<br>
defense will move ahead with an appeal.<br><br>
The one bright note of the Dhafir trial was the Dr. Dhafir was never<br>
charged with terrorism--so he was never convicted of terrorism.<br>
The sad thing is that he was not allowed to wipe this smear from<br>
his name in court!<br>
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