al-Arian acquitted
Me thinks some street justice might be appropriate for a situtation like this.
By Joe Kaufman
FrontPageMagazine.com
December 7, 2005
“Today, the United States Department of Justice is announcing the indictment of Sami al-Arian and seven co-conspirators.” That’s how United States Attorney General John Ascroft began his press conference, back in February of 2003. It was a momentous day in the war on terrorism, a triumph of the Patriot Act. We caught a leader of a terrorist ring based in Tampa, Florida, and he and at least some of his compatriots were going to be brought to justice. Now, it appears justice may not have been served.
Yesterday, al-Arian and his three friends were acquitted after five months of hearing testimony that seemed to point to the contrary. Of the 17 counts al-Arian was charged with, he was acquitted on eight of them, including “conspiracy to murder and maim people abroad,” the most serious charge. The remaining nine were considered a mistrial, as the jury was deadlocked on them. Two of his co-defendants, Sameeh Hammoudeh and Ghassan Zayed Ballut, were acquitted of all charges against them. The other, Hatem Naji Fariz, was found not guilty of 24 counts, and jurors deadlocked on the remaining eight.
By Joe Kaufman
FrontPageMagazine.com
December 7, 2005
“Today, the United States Department of Justice is announcing the indictment of Sami al-Arian and seven co-conspirators.” That’s how United States Attorney General John Ascroft began his press conference, back in February of 2003. It was a momentous day in the war on terrorism, a triumph of the Patriot Act. We caught a leader of a terrorist ring based in Tampa, Florida, and he and at least some of his compatriots were going to be brought to justice. Now, it appears justice may not have been served.
Yesterday, al-Arian and his three friends were acquitted after five months of hearing testimony that seemed to point to the contrary. Of the 17 counts al-Arian was charged with, he was acquitted on eight of them, including “conspiracy to murder and maim people abroad,” the most serious charge. The remaining nine were considered a mistrial, as the jury was deadlocked on them. Two of his co-defendants, Sameeh Hammoudeh and Ghassan Zayed Ballut, were acquitted of all charges against them. The other, Hatem Naji Fariz, was found not guilty of 24 counts, and jurors deadlocked on the remaining eight.
posted by semite1973 at 5:59 AM
2 Comments:
His given name is Osama al-Arian. Two guesses to anyone as to why the press (and weren't we taught to refer to people by their GIVEN names in print the first time, with nics in ""?) refuses to use his real name.
And the first guess doesn't count.
I just can't believe he got off. I thought it was a slam dunk.
Oh well, better deport him to Israel... hee hee hee (and I'm not talking about the PA territories, but perhaps one of those nice "get away" prisons in the middle of the Negev).
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