|
Oracle – January 22, 2004
Al-Arian goes to court
Defense lawyers protested some of the charges against him
By Stefanie Green
TAMPA - Sami Al-Arian returned to federal court on Jan. 22, 2004 when his lawyers contested some of the charges he has faced, which they say violated his First Amendment rights.
Al-Arian, a former USF professor, has said he and his co-defendants, including a former USF graduate student and Arabic instructor Sammeeh Hammoudeh, were exercising their right to free speech when raising money through a Palestinian charity, according to an Associated Press report.
However, prosecutors said the issue of free speech crossed the line and became a criminal act when money that was raised by Al-Arian and Hammoudeh was sent to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
U.S. District Judge James Moody said he would issue a ruling on the motion to dismiss the charges shortly.
William B. Moffitt, the Washington D.C. lawyer representing Al-Arian, said the constitutionality of the charges was the first set of challenges he plans to fight in the massive case. One of those challenges is the use of the Patriot Act, the AP report said. The Patriot Act allowed government officials to gather intelligence evidence collected in Al-Arian's case.
Al-Arian was arrested in February on a 50-count indictment on racketeering charges and faces a trail in January 2005.
http://www.usforacle.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/22/400fd21c81b8c
|
