Sami al-Arian trial: Al-Arian acquitted, but court of public opinion still out

If the Patriot Act doesn’t fit, you must acquit

Though US prosecutors have scored many apparent victories in terror-linked cases (thanks to immigration violations), there have also been numerous high profile defeats of late. Even so, none have been as huge a blunder as the acquittal on 8 charges (the remaining 9 were deadlocked) of Sami Al-Arian, the former University of South Florida professor that has been a fixture of anti-terror prosecutorial zeal for over 10 years (over 20,000 hours of conversations were tapped before he was arrested in 2003).

Along with two other co-conspirators, none were found guilty on over 51 charges, and Al-Arian’s entire defense consisted of a single sentence: “On behalf of Dr. Al-Arian, the defense rests.” The case was seen by many Muslims as punishment for his pro-Palestinian views. “This ranks as one of the most significant defeats for the US government, for the Justice Department since 9/11,” said law professor Jonathan Turley. “The Justice Department spent copious amounts of money and time to make the case against Al-Arian.” Supporters celebrated the aquittal as a defeat for the Patriot Act and quickly called for his immediate release (and not as a deportee). Detractors (where they could be found) assailed the prosecutors, calling them “hapless stumblebums” who “muffed” the case (because he was so obviously guilty).

Said prosecutors are floating the idea of a retrial on the deadlocked charges, knowing the enormous amount of evidence nullified in the case makes it unlikely. “These are very, very difficult cases, and obviously we’re disappointed in what happened in Tampa,” said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. “We believed this was a good case to bring.” There is more to reflect on the motivation behind the affair, from the incessant Tampa Tribune coverage to TV commentator Bill O’Reilly’s finger-pointing to the pre-Iraq war indictment by then Attorney General John Ashcroft hailed as “a milestone in the war on terror.”

Comparatively, the same attention has not been paid with regards to the (pre-Good Friday Agreement) IRA, when offensive or incendiary comments made by supporters of that organisation amid fund-raising tours in the US were unchallenged. In Al-Arian’s case, the good news is that justice has been found (even though the system never really worked in the first place). The bad news is that much of his over-the-top rhetoric (Jews are “monkeys and pigs” and other such comments that have been glossed over by supporters) is now a matter of public record, which may yet affect Palestine-concerned Muslims in the court of public opinion.

Zahed Amanullah is associate editor of altmuslim.com. He is based in London, England.