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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: Dr. Sami Al-Arian Released from Civil Contempt After One Year Dr. Sami Al-Arian Released from Civil Contempt After One Year Published 1, December 13, 2007 The following is a statement on today’s decision to release Dr. Sami Al-Arian from civil contempt status after one year of confinement. Since the beginning of civil contempt proceedings against Dr. Sami Al-Arian, we have been heavily restricted in what we can discuss in public due to the on-going court sealing of proceedings. Today, however, a defense motion to lift the contempt status of Dr. Al-Arian was granted. With the approaching termination of the grand jury in Alexandria, we filed for an order releasing him and strongly opposing any effort to “daisy-chain” a third grand jury to prolong his confinement. Dr. Al-Arian has now been held for a year on civil contempt for refusing to cooperate in a grand jury investigation. Under federal rules, the government is not allowed to use civil contempt confinement against a witness who clearly will not cooperate. Yet, despite his repeated refusals and an international campaign supporting his defiance of the Justice Department, prosecutors insisted that Dr. Al-Arian would break under pressure as a way to keep him confined. On February 20, 2003, Dr. Al-Arian was arrested and imprisoned based on a February 19, 2003 indictment filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. Dr. Al-Arian was charged, along with various co-defendants, in a 53 count Superseding Indictment on September 21, 2004. On December 6, 2005, after a six month trial in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Dr. Al-Arian was acquitted on eight counts and the jury deadlocked on the remaining nine counts. After the defeat in Florida, the government offered to allow Dr. Al-Arian to leave the country if he gave them one criminal count in a plea agreement. From the outset, Dr. Al-Arian made clear to the government that he would never enter a plea agreement that required his cooperation in destroying the lives of other people. Given the condition of deportation and the financial ruin caused to his family, Dr. Al-Arian refused to cooperate on principle and this was a key element in crafting the agreement.As a result of these negotiations, Dr. Al-Arian executed a written agreement on February 28, 2006 that included a guilty plea to Court 4 of the Superseding Indictment, which carried a guidelines range of 46 to 57 months incarceration. It did not require cooperation. While the government recommended that Dr. Al-Arian be sentenced to the low end of the Guidelines (i.e. 46 months), he was sentenced to a 57-month term of imprisonment on May 1, 2006. Despite the non-cooperation agreement, prosecutors in Virginia set out to call Dr. Al-Arian to a grand jury in full knowledge that he would refuse and be held in contempt. On May 10, 2006, ten days after being sentenced by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia obtained an order immunizing Dr. Al-Arian and compelling his testimony before the grand jury. It then moved to hold him in civil contempt when he refused to testify.Dr. Al-Arian continues to seek a judicial order upholding the non-cooperation agreement before the Eleventh Circuit, which heard oral argument on Dr. Al-Arian’s appeal on September 11, 2007. On January 22, 2007, Dr. Al-Arian began a hunger strike that lasted over two-months. He lost 55 pounds and was experiencing kidney problems when he relented to demands from his family to stop the strike. In May 2007, Dr. Al-Arian was told by the medical staff that he was diagnosed with a hernia and that surgery is required to correct this condition.Dr. Al-Arian has now outlasted two grand juries. He can now resume serving the remainder of his time from the plea agreement. This time was suspended during his civil contempt period – a way of extending his punishment. The government could still seek renewed civil contempt charges or criminal contempt charges. The court met with lead prosecutor Gordon Kromberg and Lead Defense Counsel Jonathan Turley in his chambers following the hearing. The discussion in chambers about the case remains confidential. At the hearing itself were Professor Turley and Dr. Al-Arian’s local counsel, Will Olson and P.J. Meitl, from the law firm of Bryan Cave. Professor Turley released the following statement: We are obviously gladdened by the lifting of civil contempt status from our client, Dr. Sami Al-Arian. We are grateful to Judge Gerald Bruce Lee for his kindness and consideration throughout this process.The use of civil contempt to prolong his punishment has been a shocking abuse of the system by the Justice Department. Unable to convict Dr. Al-Arian before a jury, prosecutors have sought to mete out their own brand of justice through the grand jury system. It is a tactic used in other cases where the Justice Department where the government creates the perfect Catch-22 for unconvicted citizens: choose between a perjury trap (where the slightest inconsistency or omission is criminally charged as perjury) and a contempt charge for refusing to enter the perjury trap. It has specifically used this approach with other defendants who had the temerity to fight criminal charges and win in federal court. We hope that this will be the end of this chapter in the Al-Arian case and that the government will now fulfill its agreement with Dr. Al-Arian. His case continues to draw international criticism of the Bush Administration and its abuse of provisions governing material witness, material support, and recalcitrant witnesses. It is our sincere hope that the Justice Department will now accept the decision of the Florida jury and allow Dr. Al-Arian to complete his sentence and re-join his family. Jonathan Turley Lead Counsel to Dr. Sami Al-Arian
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