Jailed Palestinian Professor Sami Al-Arian to Be Deported After Prosecutors Fail to Convict Him on a Single Charge
Democracy Now

Federal authorities have decided to deport a former Florida professor after failing to convict him on charges he helped lead a Palestinian militant group. Sami Al-Arian reportedly signed a plea agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to a lesser version of one of the charges and be deported. The arrangement requires the approval of a judge.

Al-Arian has remained in jail since he was acquitted in December of the eight of the 17 federal charges against him and the jury deadlocked on the rest. The verdict was a major defeat for Bush administration prosecutors. Following his arrest in February 2003, Al-Arian's trial was seen as one of the biggest courtroom tests of the search and surveillance powers granted under the Patriot Act. The government's case was built on hundreds of documents, including thousands of hours of wiretapped telephone calls, intercepted e-mails and faxes and bank records gathered over a decade.

The government accused Al-Arian and eight others of racketeering, conspiracy and providing material support to terrorists. The jury failed to return a single guilty verdict.

Under the new plea deal, Al-Arian would plead to a watered-down version of one of the counts accusing him of providing good and services to the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Federal prosecutors must concede that Al-Arian did not commit a crime of violence, and that there are "no victims direct or indirect" to his crime.

Al-Arian's former attorney, William Moffit, told the Tampa Tribune "I have no reason to believe they were not going to try Sami again. Why take the risk?... If he wins again, don't you think these fools will try him again? It was time for it to be over."

It is not clear where the government would deport Al-Arian who is a Palestinian born in Kuwait and raised mostly in Egypt. He has lived in the United States for 30 years and holds permanent residency status. His five children were born in the US and are all American citizens. His own bid to become a U.S. citizen was denied in 1996.

Until his arrest, Al-Arian was one of the most prominent Palestinian academics and activists in the United States. He was invited to the White House during both the President Clinton and Bush administrations and he campaigned for President Bush during the 2000 election.