Al-Arian Attorney Cites Free Speech
Published: Nov 10, 2005
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TAMPA - -- Defense attorneys in the terror-support trial of Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants took distinctive approaches to argue for their clients' acquittals Wednesday.
Al-Arian attorney William Moffitt continued to emphasize American ideals of free speech and association, saying the former University of South Florida professor came to the United States to enjoy freedoms unavailable to Palestinians anywhere else in the world. Any involvement he might have had with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad was political and separate from the group's campaign of violence, he said.
The four men are charged in a 51-count indictment alleging conspiracies to commit racketeering, to commit murder abroad and to provide material support to terrorists. They could be imprisoned for life if convicted.
Prosecutors say Al-Arian served on the Islamic Jihad's board of directors and briefly was its most powerful member. Moffitt said his client never had control of the group's money and that many of his requests were ignored.
Guilt By Association
Stephen Bernstein, who represents Sameeh Hammoudeh, took jurors through dozens of court exhibits Wednesday afternoon, saying they show his client was separate from Al-Arian and others named in the case.
Prosecutors say Hammoudeh was Al-Arian's surrogate as media and law enforcement attention increased in 1995. They say money he sent to his father during the 1990s helped fuel the conspiracy but acknowledge losing the trail once the money reached the Middle East.
"The government has yet to produce one lick of evidence or document that any of this went to the Islamic Jihad," Bernstein said.
Bernstein called Islamic Jihad bombings "atrocious."
"But the evidence in this case," he said, "is that Sameeh Hammoudeh was not in their camp."
Hammoudeh's master's thesis endorsed peaceful coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis. And, unlike his co-defendants, he is not heard on any wiretap or seen on any videotape glorifying Islamic Jihad attacks. To convict Hammoudeh, Bernstein said, jurors must buy into a prosecution presumption that all Palestinians support the terrorist group.
"This case for Sameeh Hammoudeh is guilt by association. That's it," he said.
Prosecutors point to a $20,000 wire transfer sent to Hammoudeh's bank account in 1994 that came from Islamic Jihad founder Fathi Shikaki. Hammoudeh sent $16,000 to a think tank and gave $4,000 to a director named Ramadan Shallah, records show.
First Amendment Emphasized
Earlier, Moffitt had conceded that the think tank, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise, was part of the Islamic Jihad. He pointed to secretly intercepted communications from 1994, a time when Al-Arian complained about money.
Al-Arian's objective was to keep the think tank alive, Moffitt said. The think tank allowed Western academics to learn about Islam and the Middle East, he said.
He also conceded that his client lied to reporters in 1995 when Shallah assumed command of the Islamic Jihad.
Al-Arian distanced himself from the group in 1995 after President Clinton signed an executive order banning transactions with it and other terrorist groups, Moffitt said. When Shallah took over the organization that fall, Al-Arian lied about his knowledge of Shallah's activities. "Confronted with the timing," Moffitt asked jurors, "what would you do?"
Moffitt closed his argument with an impassioned plea to consider the First Amendment. He asked jurors not to let the government limit the right of people to speak their minds.
Attorneys for Ghassan Ballut and Hatim Fariz will address jurors today.
