urgent appeal for Sami Al-Arian
Sent: Fri 2/16/2007 11:53 am
Subject: Urgent - Write Letters in Support of Sami Al-Arian
Dear Friends,
I'm not sure if you've heard of Dr.Sami Al-Arian's latest conditions, but he
collapsed on the 23rd day of his hunger strike and has been moved from
Virginia to a medical facility in North Carolina. He has been on a hunger
strike since Jan. 22 for being "held in contempt" as a result of his refusal
to testify against other Muslim organizations before the Grand Jury in VA.
As you all know, Dr. Al-Arian was acquitted in December 2005 of 8 of 17
federal charges against him. The jury deadlocked on the rest, due to just
one or two individuals on the jury. Nevertheless, Dr. Al-Arian agreed to
plea guilty to one charge in agreement that he would then be deported to
leave the country. *During plea agreements, Dr. Al-Arian blatantly refused
the government's attempt to add a "cooperation provision," which would force
him to cooperate with the government on other cases. *
Nevertheless, in COMPLETE VIOLATION of the plea agreement, the government is
now forcing him to testify before the grand jury in VA on pre-trial cases
that are investigating other Muslim groups and individuals in VA. This is a
dirty tactic that the government has been using against Muslim prisoners
throughout the country ( i.e. the VA-11 case, Abdulhaleem
Al-Ashqar,
etc.). They're trying to psychologically intimidate prisoners, like Dr.
Al-Arian, into testifying against each other on dubious charges. Dr.
Al-Arian is refusing to testify out of principle. Thus, the judge is holding
him "in contempt," which prolongs his suffering and imprisonment for up to
18 months, whereas Dr. Al-Arian should be released by April, according to
the sentence (which was the maximum sentence the judge had the option of
imposing).
*Please send a letter, fax or email to the following four individuals: *
**
- *Honorable Judge Gerald Lee** **
**U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia **
**401 Courthouse Square**,** Alexandria, VA 22314*
- *Attorney General Alberto Gonzales** *
*Department of Justice *
*U.S.** Department of Justice*
*950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW*
*Washington**, DC 20530-0001*
*Fax Number: (202) 307-6777** *
*AskDOJ@usdoj.gov** *
- *The Honorable John Conyers, Jr** *
*2426 Rayburn Building *
*Washington** , DC 20515*
*(202) 225-5126*
*(202) 225-0072 Fax*
*John.Conyers@mail.house.gov*
- *Senator Patrick Leahy** *
*433 Russell Senate Office Building *
*United States** Senate*
*Washington** , DC 20510*
*(299029)224-4242 *
*senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov *
Subject: Urgent - Write Letters in Support of Sami Al-Arian
Dear Friends,
I'm not sure if you've heard of Dr.Sami Al-Arian's latest conditions, but he
collapsed on the 23rd day of his hunger strike and has been moved from
Virginia to a medical facility in North Carolina. He has been on a hunger
strike since Jan. 22 for being "held in contempt" as a result of his refusal
to testify against other Muslim organizations before the Grand Jury in VA.
As you all know, Dr. Al-Arian was acquitted in December 2005 of 8 of 17
federal charges against him. The jury deadlocked on the rest, due to just
one or two individuals on the jury. Nevertheless, Dr. Al-Arian agreed to
plea guilty to one charge in agreement that he would then be deported to
leave the country. *During plea agreements, Dr. Al-Arian blatantly refused
the government's attempt to add a "cooperation provision," which would force
him to cooperate with the government on other cases. *
Nevertheless, in COMPLETE VIOLATION of the plea agreement, the government is
now forcing him to testify before the grand jury in VA on pre-trial cases
that are investigating other Muslim groups and individuals in VA. This is a
dirty tactic that the government has been using against Muslim prisoners
throughout the country ( i.e. the VA-11 case, Abdulhaleem
Al-Ashqar,
etc.). They're trying to psychologically intimidate prisoners, like Dr.
Al-Arian, into testifying against each other on dubious charges. Dr.
Al-Arian is refusing to testify out of principle. Thus, the judge is holding
him "in contempt," which prolongs his suffering and imprisonment for up to
18 months, whereas Dr. Al-Arian should be released by April, according to
the sentence (which was the maximum sentence the judge had the option of
imposing).
*Please send a letter, fax or email to the following four individuals: *
**
- *Honorable Judge Gerald Lee** **
**U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia **
**401 Courthouse Square**,** Alexandria, VA 22314*
- *Attorney General Alberto Gonzales** *
*Department of Justice *
*U.S.** Department of Justice*
*950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW*
*Washington**, DC 20530-0001*
*Fax Number: (202) 307-6777** *
*AskDOJ@usdoj.gov** *
- *The Honorable John Conyers, Jr** *
*2426 Rayburn Building *
*Washington** , DC 20515*
*(202) 225-5126*
*(202) 225-0072 Fax*
*John.Conyers@mail.house.gov*
- *Senator Patrick Leahy** *
*433 Russell Senate Office Building *
*United States** Senate*
*Washington** , DC 20510*
*(299029)224-4242 *
*senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov *