Al-Arian contempt charge is lifted

Lawyers say he could be deported by April.

By MEG LAUGHLIN, Times Staff Writer
Published December 14, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [AP photo] With five months left to serve, Sami Al-Arian was subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in Virginia. When he refused, a federal judge held him in contempt in late November 2006. Al-Arian's sentence was put on hold, while he waited for 13 months.

Sami Al-Arian no longer is being held on a civil contempt charge in a Virginia jail.

A federal judge lifted the charge Thursday, which starts the clock ticking again on Al-Arian's prison sentence.

If everything goes on schedule, Al-Arian could be released and deported in April.

"We're very relieved; we're finally starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel," said his son, Abdullah, 27.

In December, 2005, after a six-month trial in federal court in Tampa, a jury acquitted Al-Arian on eight terrorism-related charges and deadlocked on nine.

Five months later, as part of a plea agreement, the former USF computer professor pleaded guilty to aiding associates of a terrorist group in nonviolent activities.

He received a 57-month sentence but was scheduled to be released 11 months later, having spent almost four years in solitary confinement without being convicted.

With five months left to serve, Al-Arian was subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in Virginia. When he refused, a federal judge held him in contempt in late November 2006. Al-Arian's sentence was put on hold, while he waited for 13 months.

During this time, he refused to testify before two grand juries. In protest, he went on a hunger strike in jail and lost 55 pounds.

Repeatedly, his attorneys pointed to court transcripts and argued that federal prosecutors in Tampa said during plea-agreement negotiations that Al-Arian would not have to testify before a grand jury in Virginia. But a federal judge did not find the oral agreement binding.

Thursday, Al-Arian's attorney, Jonathan Turley, issued this statement: "We are obviously gladdened by the lifting of civil contempt status from our client, Dr. Sami Al-Arian. ... The use of civil contempt to prolong his punishment has been a shocking abuse of the system by the Justice Department."

[Last modified December 13, 2007, 23:22:27]