Terror Indictments

Amid uproar, Al-Arian hearing begins

Pro- and anti-Al-Arian protesters gather at the courthouse, where the bail hearing is expected to last into next week.

By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 21, 2003

TAMPA -- Sami Al-Arian appeared at a bail hearing Thursday looking tired and gaunt, the effects of a hunger strike having taken a toll.

But his face brightened with each glance at family and friends even as prosecutors argued that he should stay in jail while awaiting trial.

While Al-Arian's supporters and opponents clashed on the sidewalk 11 stories below, prosecutor Walter "Terry" Furr called the former University of South Florida professor the "lifeblood" of the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

"Al-Arian, for a time, was as powerful as any member of the Islamic Jihad on the planet," Furr told U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Pizzo.

Pizzo must decide whether to grant bail to Al-Arian and three other defendants. Most bail hearings are over within hours. This one is expected to go well into next week.

Al-Arian, Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Naji Fariz and Ghassan Zayed Ballut were charged last month with helping to run the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group responsible for the deaths of more than 100 people the past 10 years. Four other men named in the indictment remain at large overseas.

Collectively, the 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.

Furr told the judge that the men would be a risk to flee the country and posed a threat to the community if released on bail. Furr said the government has evidence from intercepted phone calls and faxes that proved the men had been raising money and supporting terrorism.

Al-Arian's phone was ringing around the clock, sometimes immediately after terrorist attacks in the Middle East, Furr said.

While Al-Arian is the central figure in the 121-page indictment, most of Thursday was spent on Fariz and Hammoudeh.

Character witnesses testified that Fariz and Hammoudeh were upstanding citizens.

"He's very positive," said Fariz's neighbor in Spring Hill, Richard Veachy. "His whole family are nice people."

The hearing is scheduled to continue today with witness testimony and statements from the defense attorneys about the indictment, which defense attorneys have presented as flawed and lacking substance.

For instance, Fariz's lawyer, assistant federal public defender Don Horrox, said his client was not mentioned in the text of the indictment until page 62. Even then, he said, the allegation is a phone call in which Fariz is alleged to have said he had "received some excellent 'goods."'

"The (prosecutors) made no attempt to explain what those were," Horrox told the judge.

Horrox also said the defense attorneys had not had the opportunity to scrutinize any surveillance tapes the prosecutors could use as evidence. Taped conversations are often subject to interpretation, he said, especially if they are in Arabic.

Al-Arian's attorney, Nicholas Matassini, told the judge later Thursday that he thought his presentation would take a day and a half. After the defense attorneys finish, the prosecutors get to make their pitch to keep the men in custody until trial or until the cases are otherwise wrapped up.

Al-Arian has protested his incarceration by limiting his food intake to a daily breakfast milkshake containing about 230 calories.

The hearing brought extra security to the courthouse, both inside and out. Spectators had to pass through an extra metal detector, and additional U.S. marshals were stationed inside the courtroom.

Outside, a dozen or so Tampa police officers and the regular courthouse security watched over a crowd outside that protested the defendants' incarceration and others who wanted Al-Arian locked up.

A trio of protesters yelled, "No bond for Sami" and "Jail all terrorists." At times, the crowd scuffled, with one protester spitting at another, but the conflict stopped short of fisticuffs.

"Al-Arian has proven through his actions that he is a terrorist," said David Heckman, who wore a badge that read "Terrorist Hunting Permit." "He should not be allowed out."

At noon, a prayer vigil took place. Many of the participants held up signs that said "War is Not the Answer."

Soon after, someone called in a bomb threat, which caused the courthouse to be closed and searched. No bombs were found.

-- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Graham Brink can be reached at 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com .

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