Posted on 12/08/2005 11:49:12 AM PST by West Coast Conservative
Former college professor Sami Al-Arian may have won in court this week, but his future is still murky as he awaits the U.S. government's next move, which could include deportation.
Al-Arian was acquitted Tuesday of eight of the 17 federal terrorism-conspiracy charges against him, with the jury deadlocking on the rest. The verdicts were a stunning defeat for federal authorities who had been assembling the complex case against him for a decade.
Al-Arian, 47, remains in jail, where he's been since his February 2003 indictment, while the federal government decides whether to retry him on the deadlocked charges, which include three key counts accusing him of conspiracy to support the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Officials say there is no timetable for a decision.
If the government decides to abandon the remaining charges, it's doubtful Al-Arian will be permitted to return to his previous life in Tampa. He had been a computer engineering professor at the University of South Florida, but was fired after his indictment.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is holding him on an immigration detainer and likely will try to deport him if he's released from jail. The agency can deport any foreign national it deems a terrorism risk and is held to a lower burden of proof than the criminal courts.
Al-Arian was born in Kuwait to Palestinian refugee parents and holds permanent residency status in the United States, where he has lived for three decades. He was raised mostly in Egypt. If he is deported it's not clear where he would be sent.
Calls to Al-Arian's attorneys were not immediately returned Thursday.
A vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, Al-Arian and three co-defendants were charged with running a North American cell of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group that has killed hundreds in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Jurors declined to convict any of the four defendants; some said prosecutors simply failed to connect the defendants directly to any violent acts.
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Disgusting verdict. We in Tampa have been following this one real closely. My own personal opinion is that the jury must have been snoozing during the trial. I hope they deport him, his obnoxious wife, and their kids.
I drive a Saturn. Why not send him to Uranus instead???
This case is a real blow to the future of dealing with collaborators. The government presented a strong case and it wasn’t good enough for a dumbed down American public, which was more than well represented in the jury. He didn’t know his verbal and financial support would have resulted in murder?
The left must be having a party that Justice was perverted. They will be gnashing their teeth at the deportation – let them.
The problem is what do we do about dirt bag collaborators in our midst? Prior to the US entrance into WWII, British agents took care of their own traitors operating within the US the Ian Flemming way. Kill them and say they left for Canada.
That would be uranus, no? Good place for him.
Fine. Deport him to Egypt. I'm sure he'd enjoy being incarcerated there.""
Works for me. The sooner the better. Make it a Christmas gift to AMERICA???
He can take a trip with Farrahkan on board the mother ship.
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