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Al-Arian Placed In Hands Of Immigration Officials

News Channel 8 photo by Pat Brammell

Communications coordinator Donnie Ali speaks at a press conference held by the Council on American-Islamic Relations regarding Sami Al-Arian. CAIR has called on Al-Arian supporters to write legislators about the actions of the government in his case.

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 15, 2008

TAMPA Sami Al-Arian has been transferred to the custody of immigration authorities, which could be a sign he is about to be deported.

Al-Arian's attorney, George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley, said it's also possible that the transfer was only temporary, necessitated by the fact that he has served his sentence for contempt.

Federal authorities may be preparing another contempt charge against Al-Arian, who is refusing for the third time to testify before a federal grand jury, Turley said.

"We are still concerned the government will try to bring another criminal charge to prolong his confinement," Turley said. "The government has already shown that it will go to extreme lengths to prolong his incarceration."

In the meantime, the Council on American-Islamic Relations called on Al-Arian supporters to write legislators about the actions of the government in his case.

"You cannot have justice without truth, and you cannot have peace without justice," Donnie Ali, communications coordinator of CAIR in Tampa, said during a news conference on the steps of the federal courthouse in Tampa.

Supporters expressed concern for Al-Arian's health, noting he is in the 42nd day of a hunger strike. "His family is worried for his life," said Lois Price, who was at the news conference. "They're forcing him to walk long distances and moving him between facilities."

Al-Arian, a former professor at the University of South Florida, was tried in 2005 on terrorism-related charges when federal prosecutors alleged he was a fundraiser for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Jurors acquitted him of eight counts and deadlocked on nine others.

Al-Arian later pleaded guilty to a charge he conspired to provide assistance to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Under a plea deal, he was to have been deported after he served his sentence. His family has since moved to Egypt, and Al-Arian's supporters want prosecutors to abide by the plea agreement and deport him.

Al-Arian's sentence was to have been completed in April 2007, but federal prosecutors in Virginia subpoenaed him to testify before a grand jury there, and he was held in contempt when he refused. That contempt has run out, but prosecutors have subpoenaed Al-Arian again.

Turley said prosecutors have set a contempt trap, because they will not believe what he says if he testifies, and will then charge him with perjury. If he refuses to testify, they will charge him with contempt.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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