The week in review

By MEG LAUGHLIN
Published July 25, 2005

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Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants are on trial in federal court, accused of using Islamic charities as fronts in a conspiracy to finance terrorist attacks by Palestinian Islamic Jihad. With the trial expected to last six months, the Times is providing a weekly summary highlighting last week's important developments.

Prosecutors spent last week entering transcripts from FBI wiretaps of telephone calls and faxes into evidence, over the objections of defense attorneys who repeatedly said the materials were hearsay or irrelevant.

Along with these materials, gathered during almost a decade of FBI electronic surveillance, prosecutors also entered into evidence transcripts and videotapes from videotaped conferences, calendars, diaries, address books, brochures and downloaded computer materials from defendants' homes and offices in Tampa.

The evidence that was entered included materials at the crux of the government's case: conversations, faxes and other materials about the management of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, suicide bombings and other killings. Repeatedly, prosecutors pointed to the PIJ logo on faxes, brochures and other materials.

At the end of a week of listening to prosecutors enter thousands of pages of transcripts into evidence, U.S. District Judge James S. Moody told jurors that much of the evidence could prove to be meaningless "unless the government proves a conspiracy."

WHAT'S NEXT: Today, defense attorneys will cross-examine an FBI-contracted linguist about his translation of documents.

Then, another government linguist will take the witness stand and more transcripts will be admitted into evidence.