Zero Convictions In The Sami Al-Arian Islamic Jihad Trial (moved from ATSNN), page 1

posted on Dec, 7 2005 @ 08:59 PM

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Sami Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor, has been acquitted on eight of seventeen charges, with the jury deadlocked on the other nine charges. Al-Arian and three others were charged with various counts related to the support and funding of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Two defendants were totally acquitted and the other was split between acquittal and no verdicts. Al-Arian was the center of an academic freedom controversy when he was originally indicted.

news.tbo.com
Once billed as a major strike in the war on terrorism, the case against Sami Al-Arian crumbled Tuesday when jurors rejected federal charges that Al-Arian and three co-defendants operated a North American cell for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Tears of joy at the defense table met with blank expressions of shock among prosecutors after jurors deadlocked on nine counts against Al-Arian and found him not guilty of conspiring to commit murder abroad, money laundering and obstruction of justice.

"This ranks as one of the most significant defeats for the U.S. government, for the Justice Department since 9/11," said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University Law School who has represented other terrorism defendants."The Justice Department spent copious amounts of money and time to make the case against Al-Arian.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

This result was a major embarrassment for the U.S. Justice Department. Despite a mass of evidence deemed strong enough to indict, the jury didn't make the connections to actual terrorist activity. Without such connections, the issue was more about free speech. In the future, perhaps the Justice Department will have to rely more on financial freezes and other methods to cut funding for terrorist organizations, rather than the legal system.

Related News Links:
news.tbo.com
www.abcactionnews.com
news.yahoo.com

Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
NEWS: Trial of Sami Al-Arian: Bungled or Cover-Up You Decide

[edit on 12/9/05 by FredT]

GradyPhilpott

posted on Dec, 7 2005 @ 09:21 PM

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This case is not yet over. Even if he is acquitted on criminal charges, he will be pursued on civil charges and possibly other criminal charges.

[edit on 2005/12/7 by GradyPhilpott]

djohnsto77

posted on Dec, 7 2005 @ 09:24 PM

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The jurors on this case must be insane, nothing else can explain their verdict.

However, the government will definitely retry the charges the jury hung on and will be able to streamline their case and likely will get a conviction.

Nygdan

posted on Dec, 9 2005 @ 02:19 PM

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The jurors on this case must be insane, nothing else can explain their verdict.

What was the evidence presented that he conspired to commit murder, laundered money, and obstructed justice? He may very well've, but I don't know the evidence, all I know is that he was a mouthpeice of jihadi groups, which isn't conspiracy to commit murder, money laundering, or obstruction. Immoral and repugnant, but not illegal.