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Tampa Bay Times – June 13, 2005
Al-Arian's trial enters 2nd week
TAMPA - The trial of former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants began last week before a packed courtroom, with demonstrators in the street and international news coverage. Federal prosecutors will continue presenting the government's case this week. It portrays Al-Arian as the head of a powerful cell of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad that operated out of Tampa.
In their opening statement, prosecutors told jurors evidence would show that Al-Arian and his three other defendants led double lives while financially backing suicide bombers in Israel.
Al-Arian's lawyer, William Moffitt, countered that the case was guilt-by-association. He said his client was an advocate for Palestinian rights who was exercising freedom of speech, and that his charitable work was legitimate.
On Tuesday, attorneys for the other three defendants minimized their clients' ties to Al-Arian, and emphasized their community ties and moderate, nonviolent political views.
The first prosecution witness was an immigration official who explained the government forms that immigrants must fill out. Prosecutors hope to show Al-Arian and the others hid ties to PIJ when coming into the United States.
An FBI agent spent much of the week testifying about evidence seized in raids on Al-Arian's home and offices.
And on Thursday, the former imam of a Sarasota mosque, who worked with the FBI on another terrorism case, testified that Al-Arian once tried to recruit him to join a violent faction of PIJ…..
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/13/Tampabay/Al_Arian_s_trial_ente.shtml
St. Petersburg Times - June 9, 2005
Al Arian trial:
Prosecutor tries to connect dots; defense raises doubts
By MEG LAUGHLIN
In the Sami Al-Arian trial today, prosecutors continued entering evidence seized from the Nov. 25, 1995, search of WISE headquarters, or World & Islam Studies Enterprise. In that search the FBI took 50 boxes of material.
As he did Wednesday, prosecutor Terry Zitek again pointed out the logo of the PIJ on seized papers, in an attempt to connect the workings of WISE in the early '90s to the PIJ, which has claimed responsibility for numerous suicide bombings in Israel.
The prosecutor also entered into evidence photos of Al-Arian, Sameeh Hammoudeh and others (who became defendants in 2003) at conferences in the early 1990s for the Islamic Committee for Palestine. They are shown with people whom the US government later identified as PIJ leaders.
At the time, these people were given visas by the U.S. government to go to Chicago to speak at the ICP conferences.
The government also entered into evidence a letter from the Muslim Women's Society, which the government alleges is a government front for getting money to the PIJ. The letter requested donations for Palestinian orphans.
Curiously, this same piece of evidence was used by the defense for their purposes: To make the point that money was raised for orphans, not to fund the PIJ.
Defense attorney William Moffitt again questioned how evidence was logged in and stored and if it was possible to know that what was being presented as seized in the 1995 raid of WISE headquarters had actually come from there….
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/09/Tampabay/Prosecutor_tries_to_c.shtml
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