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<h2><b>Warning - these are corporate news reports<br><br>
Al-Arian Arraigned On Contempt Charges</b></h2><font size=3>By
<a href="http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jun/30/mailto:esilvestrini@tampatrib.com">
ELAINE SILVESTRINI</a> | The Tampa Tribune<br><br>
Published: June 30, 2008<br><br>
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<a href="http://media.tbo.com/pdf/0701alarianindict.pdf">Read The
Indictment</a>
<li>
<img src="http://media.tbo.com/assets/_shared/icons/info/info_16.gif" alt="[]">
<a href="http://media.tbo.com/pdf/0701alarianarraign.pdf">Read The
Arraignment Document</a>
</ul><a name="content1"></a><br>
Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian was arraigned
this afternoon on two charges of criminal contempt for refusing to
testify before a federal grand jury in Virginia.<br><br>
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema in Alexandria, Va., ordered Al-Arian
transferred out of the custody of immigration authorities and into the
custody of U.S. Marshals.<br><br>
Al-Arian's attorney, Jonathan Turley, wrote on his blog that the court
where Al-Arian is being prosecuted "is called the 'Rocket Docket'
because it prides itself on moving these cases at a breakneck
pace."<br><br>
Al-Arian's arraignment had been scheduled for the morning, but was moved
to the afternoon "due to the failure of the government to transport
him to the courthouse," Turley said on his blog.<br><br>
Al-Arian was prosecuted in Tampa on terrorism-related charges alleging he
was a lead U.S. fundraiser for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a
U.S.-designated terrorist organization in Israel. A federal jury in 2005
failed to convict him of any charge, but deadlocked on nine counts. He
later struck a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to one count of
providing assistance to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.<br><br>
He has completed his sentence for that charge, but has been held on
successive civil contempt charges for refusing to testify before a
Virginia grand jury investigating alleged terrorist financing by
charities there.<br><br>
During the Tampa trial, the government presented evidence that Al-
Arian's think tank, World and Islam Studies Enterprise, received funding
from the International Institute of Islamic Thought, based in Herndon,
Va. The institute's offices were raided in 2002 as part of the
investigation into World and Islam Studies Enterprise.<br><br>
Turley wrote on his blog that Al-Arian has been indicted for failing to
provide information about IIIT, even though he doesn't have any
information to give.<br><br>
"After failing to convict Dr. Al-Arian before a Florida jury, the
government has continued to use any and all means to prolong his
confinement in direct contradiction of a plea agreement reached after his
trial," Turley wrote. "They have indicted him despite the fact
that the prosecutors admitted that he is a minor witness in the IIIT
investigation and he has already given two detailed statements under oath
to the government and offered to take a polygraph examination to prove
that he has given true information about his knowledge of
IIIT."<br><br>
Stetson Law School professor Charles Rose said criminal contempt charges
such as the new ones against Al-Arian are extremely rare.<br><br>
"I just can't imagine that this is still around," Rose said of
the Al-Arian case. "You almost never see a charge of criminal
contempt, historically, unless you're dealing with organized crime.
They're treating Sami Al-Arian like he is a member of a criminal
organization."<br><br>
Rose said the only explanation he can think of is that the government has
some evidence against Al-Arian that it cannot use because it was not
legally obtained. "That would explain why they are so adamant in
their pursuit of Mr. Al-Arian because otherwise it's just
harassment," he said.<br><br>
Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or
esilvestrini@tampatrib.com<br>
<br>
Find this article at: <br>
<a href="http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jun/30/al-arian-arraigned-contempt-charges" eudora="autourl">
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jun/30/al-arian-arraigned-contempt-charges</a>
<br><br>
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</font><h1><b>Counterterrorism Blog<br><br>
<br>
</b></h1><h2><b>Al-Arian Contempt Trial Set for
August</b></h2><font size=3>
<a href="http://counterterrorismblog.org/2008/06/print/alarian_contempt_trial_set_for.php" eudora="autourl">
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2008/06/print/alarian_contempt_trial_set_for.php<br>
</a></font><h4><b>By The Investigative Project on Terrorism
(IPT)</b></h4><font size=3>ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A trial date has been set
for August 13th in the case of Sami Al-Arian, who is charged with
criminal contempt in a
<a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/misc/142.pdf">two
count indictment</a> for refusing to testify before grand juries
investigating Islamic charities with suspected ties to terrorism. U.S.
District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema said she expected a
"straightforward" trial that would last one day, but Al-Arian's
attorney, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley,
indicated that he would continue to challenge the indictment and
suggested the trial may be more complicated.<br><br>
The indictment charges Al-Arian with refusing to testify when called
before federal grand juries Oct. 16, 2007 and March 20, 2008 despite a
grant of immunity from the prosecution.<br><br>
After the arraignment Turley spelled out his planned defense on his blog,
writing:<br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>In court, I informed Judge Brinkema that we believed that the
indictment was invalid on its face. Among other problems, Dr. Al-Arian
did not refuse to cooperate. Dr. Al-Arian had given two detailed
affidavits that established that he had no knowledge of any crime by IIIT
or its officers. He further offered repeatedly to take a polygraph
examination to prove that he had given a truthful account and was not
withholding information.<br><br>
</dl>Even if that turns out to be true, Al-Arian is not charged with
"failure to cooperate," but criminal contempt for refusing to
testify before the grand jury, which two federal appellate courts have
held he had an obligation to do.<br><br>
Although Al-Arian's defense claimed today that their client was not
prepared to enter a plea, Judge Brinkema proceeded to enter a plea of not
guilty on Al-Arian's behalf.<br><br>
Judge Brinkema agreed to consider releasing Al-Arian on bond pending
trial, but deferred her ruling until she can hear from
<a href="http://www.uscourts.gov/misc/propretrial.html">pretrial
services</a> about how best to ensure Al-Arian's supervision during his
release.<br><br>
For the complete article of today's events, please
<a href="http://www.investigativeproject.org/article/702">click here</a>
to visit the IPT's website.<br><br>
By The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) on June 30, 2008 7:19 PM
<br><br>
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<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.examiner.com/img/rss-examiner_logo.gif" width=133 height=24 alt="[]">
<font size=3> <br>
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/printa-1466349~Al-Arian's_lawyer_disputes_contempt_charges.html" eudora="autourl">
http://www.examiner.com/printa-1466349~Al-Arian%27s_lawyer_disputes_contempt_charges.html<br>
</a>Local <br>
Al-Arian's lawyer disputes contempt charges<br><br>
By MATTHEW BARAKAT, The Associated Press<br>
2008-06-30 22:03:44.0<br>
Current rank: # <b>360</b> of 9,569 <br>
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - <br><br>
A former professor once accused of being a terrorist leader is now
defending himself against criminal contempt charges that never should
have been filed, his defense lawyer said Monday.<br><br>
Defense lawyer
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Jonathan_Turley.html">Jonathan
Turley</a> said the contempt charges against his client, former
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/Subject-University_of_South_Florida.html">
University of South Florida</a> computer science professor
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Sami_Al-Arian.html">Sami
Al-Arian</a>, were filed just a day after he had essentially reached an
informal deal to cooperate and provide information sought by federal
prosecutors.<br><br>
A grand jury in
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Alexandria.html">Alexandria</a>
indicted Al-Arian on Thursday on two counts of criminal contempt for
allegedly refusing on two occasions to provide grand jury testimony
related to an investigation of a cluster of Muslim organizations based in
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Northern_Virginia.html">northern
Virginia</a>.<br><br>
Al-Arian had been granted immunity for his testimony so he could not
invoke his constitutional rights against self-incrimination.<br><br>
Turley said in an interview Monday that he and Al-Arian feared that
prosecutors were simply hauling him in front of the grand jury to put him
at risk of perjury.<br><br>
Despite those fears, Turley said he had been negotiating for months with
prosecutors to find a way to give the government the information it was
seeking.<br><br>
Turley said he believed he had the outline of a deal in place last week,
after his client agreed to give a detailed affidavit about his knowledge
of the organizations under investigation, answer follow-up questions and
submit to a polygraph test.<br><br>
Turley said his client has no information about any criminal activity
regarding the organizations in question, and said as much in the
affidavit.<br><br>
But the deal apparently fell through, and one day later al-Arian was
indicted.<br><br>
"He was cooperating despite a plea agreement" that exempted him
from doing so, Turley said. "Can you actually indict someone for
contempt of court when in fact ... they are cooperating?"<br><br>
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Gordon_Kromberg.html">Gordon
Kromberg</a>, the prosecutor handling the case, declined
comment.<br><br>
It is the second time Al-Arian has faced criminal charges. He has been in
jail since 2003, when prosecutors charged him with being a leader of the
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Palestinian_Islamic_Jihad.html">
Palestinian Islamic Jihad</a> terrorist group. After a six-month trial, a
jury in
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Florida.html">Florida</a>
acquitted him on some charges, and failed to reach a verdict on
others.<br><br>
The government decided to retry him, and al-Arian struck a plea bargain
admitting guilt to a lesser charge of conspiring to aid Palestinian
Islamic Jihad, specifically by helping a family member with links to the
group obtain immigration benefits and by lying to a reporter about
another individual's ties to the group.<br><br>
At an brief arraignment Monday, Al-Arian declined to enter a formal plea
to the charges, so
<a href="http://www.examiner.com/Subject-Leonie_Brinkema.html">U.S.
District Judge Leonie Brinkema</a> entered a not guilty plea on his
behalf.<br><br>
She set an Aug. 13 trial date. Brinkema rejected a proposed trial date of
Sept. 15 because it was too close to the anniversary of the Sept. 11
attacks.<br>
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<br><br>
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