Naturally the Wahhabi Lobby was quick to spring to Hassoun's aid. From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Muslim case raises civil-rights concerns
| Muslim leaders and civil libertarians on Monday condemned the government's secretive detention of a computer programmer from Sunrise, while the FBI explored his ties to accused "dirty bomber" José Padilla. The federal agencies investigating Adham Hassoun, 40, a Palestinian from Lebanon, have refused to comment publicly on their investigation, underscoring post-Sept. 11 profiling concerns among Muslims and civil rights advocates. Hassoun, who was arrested Wednesday, is being held at the Fort Lauderdale city jail on Immigration and Naturalization Service charges that he failed to maintain his immigration status. After speaking with Hassoun by phone Sunday, Muslim community activist Sofian Abdelaziz said Hassoun's civil rights "have been broken." Abdelaziz, director of the Miami-based American Muslim Association of North America, and other Muslim leaders expressed concern that undisclosed investigations such as Hassoun's create a sense that Muslims are being targeted. "After Sept. 11 we have been very cooperative with the authorities and we are working hard at healing the community," said Abdelaziz, who says these efforts have gone mostly unrecognized. "They keep making us feel you do good or bad and we're still against you, and you're under the microscope." Hassoun, known for his outspoken and passionate support of the Palestinian cause, has been associated at one time or another with at least two charities, Benevolence International Foundation and the Global Relief Foundation, that the United States is now accusing of supporting terrorism. But it is the government's curiosity about Padilla, now being held as an "enemy combatant'' on suspicion that he was dispatched by al-Qaida to detonate a radioactive bomb, that led them to Hassoun. Padilla, who lived in South Florida for much of the 1990s, and Hassoun worshipped at the Masjid Al-Iman mosque in Fort Lauderdale, but little else is known about their relationship. A senior federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators think Hassoun had a relationship with Padilla outside of the Masjid Al-Iman mosque. "We think they have interacted,'' said the official. "We're trying to figure out how far it goes and what's the nature of it.'' The federal official said Hassoun was detained administratively by the INS while the FBI continues its investigation. That includes what connection Hassoun and Padilla might have to charity groups such as the Benevolence International Foundation. Hassoun worked for Benevolence briefly when it opened an office in Plantation in 1993. That office closed in 1994. The foundation, which serves Islamic communities in places such as Bosnia, Pakistan and China, faces charges in federal court in Chicago that it served as a financing mechanism for Osama bin Laden. Hassoun also contributed $11,000 to Global Relief, which is facing similar accusations of funding terrorism. Members of Hassoun's family were reluctant to speak to the media Monday, but denied that Hassoun was more than an acquaintance of Padilla. "He just saw him. He wasn't friends," said Hassoun's nephew. The nephew, who lives across the street from Hassoun in Sunrise, did not want his name used. Hassoun's attorney, George DeFabio, declined to comment Monday beyond providing the following factual background: Hassoun came to the United States on a visitor's visa in 1989, then received a student visa in 1990. In 1996 he applied to adjust his status to permanent resident and has been waiting for the immigration service to finish processing his application ever since, according to DeFabio. During that time, Hassoun has received regular work authorization from the government. The INS has charged him with failing to maintain legal immigration status, DeFabio said. INS spokesman Rodney Germain would say only that Hassoun is in violation of the Immigration and Naturalization Act. But the INS should not be detaining Hassoun unless he is a danger to the community or a flight risk, said Jamie Fellner, U.S. director for New York-based Human Rights Watch. "The U.S. wants to be able to question people, and it wants them to be `encouraged' to answer questions,'' she said. "We believe this desire for detention is a way to facilitate questions and it exceeds INS powers.'' The USA Patriot Act of 2001 authorizes the government to detain non-citizens when the Attorney General suspects that the person is "engaged in any ... activity that endangers the national security of the United States.'' The government has detained hundreds of immigrants on visa violations since Sept. 11. Fellner said the INS should either deport Hassoun, or let him go on a reasonable bond unless he is a danger or he would flee. Hassoun has three children and owns two houses in a middle-class neighborhood in Sunrise. Fellner said Hassoun's incarceration fits the government's pattern since Sept. 11: holding someone, often in local jails alongside common criminals, "until the administration learns about him or from him what they were seeking.'' On Friday, FBI agents visited the current religious leader of Al-Iman, where Hassoun has preached and Padilla prayed and studied before leaving the country in 1998. Imam Rafiq Mahdi said agents asked him general questions about Padilla and Hassoun. "I think their intention was to get information, not give it,'' said Mahdi, who never met Padilla but knew Hassoun through the mosque. "I think that it's an attempt to cover all their bases." Khurrum Wahid, civil rights director for the Florida chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, would like the government's case against Adham Hassoun to receive a public hearing in court. "I'm not saying let everybody out," Wahid said. "I'm just saying bring it to a hearing. Let a jury decide the facts. Guilt or innocence is not for the government to decide. It's for a jury to decide." Jeff Shields can be reached at jshields@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4531. |
It seems half the Muslims in America are illegal aliens and/or like this clown "out of status", meaning he got in here legally with a visa but is now an illegal alien since his visa has expired. Or he came on tourist visa and decided to squat here.