Originally published January 6 2006
Florida professor acquitted of charges that he led a terrorist group
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Florida professor Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants were found innocent of 51 criminal counts brought by prosecutors who claimed Al-Arian was helping a Palestinian terrorist organization.
A federal jury on Tuesday failed to return a single guilty verdict on any of the 51 criminal counts against a former Florida professor and three co-defendants accused of helping to lead a Palestinian terrorist group.
In a major defeat for Bush administration prosecutors, Sami Al-Arian was acquitted on eight of the 17 counts against him and the jury deadlocked on the rest.
Three co-defendants, Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Fariz and Ghassan Ballut, were also cleared of most of the charges against them.
Al-Arian's five-month trial was seen as one of the biggest courtroom tests of the search and surveillance powers granted under the Patriot Act.
The government accused him and eight others of racketeering, conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists.
The government alleged that Al-Arian used an Islamic academic think tank and a Palestinian charity to illegally funnel money to the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Until his arrest, Al-Arian was one of the most prominent Palestinian academics and activists in the United States.
He was invited to the White House during both the President Clinton and Bush administrations and he campaigned for President Bush during the 2000 election.
His indictment in 2003 was hailed by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft as one of the first triumphs of the Patriot Act.
The government's case was built on hundreds of documents, including thousands of hours of wiretapped telephone calls, intercepted e-mails and faxes and bank records gathered over a decade.
Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said "While we respect the jury's verdict, we stand by the evidence we presented in court."
In October 2002, just four months before he was arrested and charged, I spoke with Sami Al-Arian at an antiwar rally in Central Park.
I asked him what his thoughts were about America.
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