Prosecution Nears End In Al-Arian Trial
Published: Oct 7, 2005
ADVERTISEMENT
More from this channel:
Search our archives: Type keyword(s)
TAMPA - Jurors in the terror-support trial of Sami Al- Arian and three other men will wait until next week to see the government's last batch of evidence.
It involves electronic mail and Web site visits by defendants Ghassan Ballut and Hatim Fariz concerning the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
On Wednesday, an FBI computer forensics analyst testified about electronic mail received by Fariz and Web sites visited by Fariz and Ballut during 2002 and 2003. They included hits on the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's Web site, www.qudsway.com.
Most of Thursday dealt with two translators who testified that their English versions of the documents are fair and accurate. FBI agent Russell Hayes was about to start testifying about the contents of the documents when court adjourned for the week.
Prosecutors had estimated that they would rest their case this week.
The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering, to murder abroad and to provide material support for terrorists. Prosecutors say they helped organize and run the Islamic Jihad and the computer traffic is intended to show that the men followed the Islamic Jihad's activities and messages while communicating and sending money to one of its members.
Defense attorneys say the money was for charitable purposes.
Only glimpses of the evidence have been shown thus far. Among them, Fariz appeared to receive an e-mail containing an internal Islamic Jihad memo and a separate e-mail that included a list of the group's martyrs. He also viewed an interview with an Islamic Jihad member serving time in an Israeli jail.
Defense attorney Bruce Howie, who represents Ballut, pointed out that the Web pages his client viewed dealt mostly with news stories, including some from Al Jazeera.
Defense attorney Wadie Said, who represents Fariz, contested portions of some of the translations. In one case, a mosque had been identified as the Al-Awda mosque. "Awda" in Arabic means return, Said said. That could be confusing to jurors because Sheik Abdel Aziz Awda is named in the indictment but has not been arrested. He is considered the Islamic Jihad's spiritual leader.
He also questioned punctuation in several translations.
