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Letter to the editor

Defendants' immigration forms at issue

A U.S. immigration officer testified this morning in the Sami Al-Arian trial about missing information on immigration forms.

By MEG LAUGHLIN
Published June 8, 2005

Good morning, Mr. Shavers. With those words from prosecutor Terry Zidek, Day Three of the federal trial of Sami Al-Arian et al began.

Timothy Shavers' reason for being there: As a U.S. immigration officer, he answered questions about the citizenship and visa applications of defendants.

The prosecution's primary reason for calling him as a witness: To show that in the early 90s, defendants Sami Al-Arian, Sameeh Hammoudeh and Ghassan Ballut had not listed on immigration forms their memberships and affiliations in groups and political organizations, which prosecutors say were fronts for funding the PIJ, a terrorist organization in Israel responsible for suicide bombings.

At the time of these applications, the PIJ was not designated a "terrorist organization" by the U.S. government.

During cross-examination, Shavers said he only studied "selected portions" of the defendants' files -- those requested by the prosecution. He also said questions on the forms were subject to interpretation.

To make a point about the arbitrary nature of what could be construed as a political organization, defense attorney Stephen Bernstein asked Shavers if the issuer of Hammoudeh's passport, the Palestinian Authority, was a political organization.

Shavers said: "The occupied territories are not a political organization."

Defense attorney for Ballut, Bruce Howie, asked Shavers: "If a man becomes involved in an organization four years after filing a form, that wouldn't be on the form, would it?"

"No," said Shavers.

Howie was referring to his client's alleged affiliation with groups the government says were funders for PIJ terrorism.

Go to http://webdev.sptimes.com/2005/webspecials05/al-arian/index.shtml for complete trial coverage.

[Last modified June 8, 2005, 18:18:34]