Terror Indictments

Al-Arian stirs the court of public opinion

A judge delays the bail hearing for the USF professor. Outside court, his supporters protest the charges against him.

[Times photo: Ken Helle] Sami Al-Arian's wife, Nahla, left, and daughter Leena meet with reporters Tuesday after learning his bail hearing was delayed.

By TAMARA LUSH and GRAHAM BRINK
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 26, 2003

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TAMPA -- While lawyers in a federal courtroom spoke in measured tones Tuesday about three men accused of conspiring with terrorists, dozens of people protested and debated heatedly on the street 15 floors below.

Upstairs, the defense attorneys for Sami Al-Arian and two other men accused of raising money for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad asked that a bail hearing be delayed until March 24, saying they needed more time to make a thorough argument.

The real action, however, unfolded on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse, where Al-Arian's supporters expressed frustration with the U.S. government and where his daughter spoke on his behalf.

"I'm crucified today because of who I am, a stateless Palestinian, an Arab and Muslim, and outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights," Leena Al-Arian said, reading from a statement written by her father in jail. "I'm a prisoner because of the hysteria engulfing this country in the aftermath of the 9/11 tragedy."

Al-Arian, a University of South Florida professor, said the government is persecuting him like the Romans persecuted Jesus Christ.

"Jesus always questioned power and spoke out against injustice," he wrote in pencil. "For that he was condemned by his contemporaries."

Fifty Al-Arian supporters walked in a circle outside the court building, holding signs that read "Free Sami" and "No Justice, No Peace."

David Heckman was there to protest Al-Arian. The Valrico resident wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the Liberty Bell and a fake press pass around his neck that said "Terrorist Hunting Permit."

Heckman said he represented 40 "friends and family" who believe that Al-Arian and the other two defendants should be detained without bail.

Several Al-Arian supporters tangled with Heckman. The verbal sparring was a magnet for reporters and TV cameras.

"Do you think bombing Hiroshima was a terrorist act?" Frank Gustaba of Fort Myers asked Heckman. Gustaba wore a pin that said, "Don't kill for oil."

Just then, Al-Arian's wife, Nahla, walked out of the courthouse.

"Do you think your husband has been lying to you?" a television reporter shouted at Mrs. Al-Arian.

"My husband is a good man," she said quietly.

To Omali Yeshitela of the Florida Alliance for Peace and Justice, Al-Arian is guilty of one thing: supporting the cause of the Palestinian people.

"That's a frightening thing that somebody in Washington, D.C., can draw up a list and say that these are terrorist organizations and anybody who supports these organization by association also becomes a terrorist," said Yeshitela.

Al-Arian, 45, a USF computer engineering professor, is charged with overseeing the North American faction of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group that has killed more than 100 people in the past 10 years.

Al-Arian was arrested Thursday at his apartment in Temple Terrace. Agents also arrested Sameeh Hammoudeh, a part-time Arabic instructor and doctoral student at USF, and Hatem Naji Fariz, a Spring Hill resident who worked in a doctor's office. A fourth defendant named in the indictment, Ghassan Zayed Ballut, was arrested in Chicago.

Four other defendants, who do not live in the United States, remain at large.

Collectively, the eight defendants face 50 criminal counts that include conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to murder, maim or injure people on foreign soil, including U.S. citizens.

The indictment does not accuse Al-Arian of planning or carrying out any attacks by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Instead, the allegations focus on his role as PIJ's alleged financial planner and a chief U.S. fundraiser.

On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo agreed to delay the bail hearing for three weeks so the defendants would have the benefit of "a full and fair hearing."

Pizzo called the case "unusual," pointing to the size and scope of the indictment, which includes references to activities as far back as the mid 1980s.

Al-Arian's attorney, Nick Matassini, said he had worked around the clock since Thursday but needed more time to make a thorough argument for bail. He said a fund was being set up to help pay for a defense team that he was assembling. Federal prosecutor Walter "Terry" Furr did not object to the delay. He also alerted the judge that he had filed a notice of intent to use intelligence information from another nation. Furr and the other federal prosecutors would not comment after the hearing.

Outside the courtroom, Hammoudeh's lawyer Richard Condon told reporters that he was subjected to an "ad hominem attack" since he agreed to take the case. Among other things, he said he was made to take off his Mickey Mouse tie and put on a different one before entering the courtroom. He said he wore the tie because that is what he thought of the case.

Condon, who described himself as a "longtime Republican from a family of Republicans," said he took the case for free because he thought his own rights as a "human being and United States citizen were being violated."

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