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Washington Post - July 14, 2005
Dr. Ali Tamimi sentenced to life imprisonment
By Jerry Markon
A man convicted for what he said -- words that prosecutors said incited his followers to train for violent jihad against the United States -- had a few more things to say yesterday in a federal courtroom in Alexandria before he was sentenced to life in prison.
Ali Al-Timimi, a prominent Muslim spiritual leader, delivered an impassioned statement in which he asserted his innocence, read the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and said his religious beliefs do not recognize "secular law." He then compared himself to the Greek philosopher Socrates, who was sentenced to death for corrupting the young and dishonoring the gods of Athens.
"I will not admit guilt nor seek the court's mercy," Timimi told a courtroom crowded with his supporters and prosecutors. "Socrates was mercifully given a cup of hemlock. I was handed a life sentence."
As U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema pronounced the life sentence, Timimi nodded slightly. The judge then revoked his bond, and Timimi walked slowly away in the custody of U.S. marshals, smiling and waving at supporters in the emotionally charged courtroom.
Although Brinkema called the punishment "very draconian," she said she had no choice under congressionally mandated minimum sentencing requirements. And she criticized Timimi, 41, for his role in inspiring his followers to attend terrorist training camps abroad.
The contentious hearing reflected the passions surrounding the prosecution of Timimi. The Fairfax County resident was convicted in April, primarily for his pronouncements to his followers in a case that some experts said raised First Amendment issues but prosecutors called a major victory in the war on terrorism.
Defense lawyers portrayed Timimi as a Muslim scholar whose often-incendiary rhetoric merely reflected his right to free speech. Some legal experts agreed that the case raised troubling First Amendment concerns, while others said that his words crossed the line because they could have incited violence.
But Brinkema, in rejecting defense motions for acquittal and a new trial, said she was satisfied that the case did not "violate any of Timimi's First Amendment rights. This is not a case about speech. This is a case about intent."
The judge said that the mandatory sentences, including a life term for a gun charge -- made because Timimi incited some followers to fire weapons at terrorist training camps -- were "very draconian."
Defense lawyers, who vowed to appeal the verdict and sentence, said they understood that Brinkema had no choice.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/13/AR2005071302169.html
The New York Times - July 14, 2005
Scholar Is Given Life Sentence in 'Virginia Jihad' Case
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 13 - An influential Muslim scholar, whom prosecutors called a "purveyor of hate and war," was ordered on Wednesday to spend the rest of his life in prison for inciting his young followers in Northern Virginia to wage war against the United States in the days after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The scholar, Ali al-Timimi, was defiant to the end, telling a federal judge as he was about to be sentenced that he considered himself a "prisoner of conscience" who was being persecuted for his strong Muslim beliefs.
"I will not admit guilt nor seek the court's mercy," Mr. Timimi told a hushed courtroom filled with more than two dozen Muslims who have rallied around him. "I do this simply because I am innocent."
The federal district judge hearing the case, Leonie M. Brinkema, ordered the life sentence grudgingly, saying she was bound by federal guidelines.
While Judge Brinkema said there was significant evidence that Mr. Timimi had incited his followers toward violence, she said she considered the prison terms mandated by the guidelines under four counts of the conviction to be "very draconian." She said she had no choice but to impose the life sentence after refusing a defense request to set aside the guilty verdicts.
Mr. Timimi, an Iraqi-American cancer researcher who lectured at a mosque in Northern Virginia and circulated his religious writings on the Internet, is the most prominent Muslim prosecuted in connection with what federal prosecutors have labeled the Virginia jihad network.
Prosecutors portrayed Mr. Timimi as a spiritual and intellectual leader of the young men in the network, as they traveled to foreign training camps and prepared to wage a holy war in defense of Islam by playing paintball and gathering weapons and explosives.
Gordon Kromberg, the lead prosecutor in the case for the Justice Department, called Mr. Timimi "a purveyor of hate and war" in court on Wednesday.
Defense lawyers for Mr. Timimi argued that his language, while offensive to many, was free speech protected by the First Amendment. At Wednesday's hearing, the defense lawyers used that argument and others in seeking to have the judge set aside the guilty verdicts handed up by a jury in Alexandria in April.
The jury convicted Mr. Timimi on charges of conspiracy, attempting to aid the Taliban, soliciting treason and soliciting others to wage war against the United States, and aiding and abetting the use of firearms and explosives. The last charge carried a mandatory life sentence.
Judge Brinkema said she found the free-speech defense "unpersuasive" and refused to throw out any of the verdicts. "This was not a case about speech; this was a case about intent," she said, specifically Mr. Timimi's intent to incite others to commit crimes against the United States. She said the testimony "did strongly support" the legitimacy of the verdicts.
Several Muslim supporters of Mr. Timimi wept as the life sentence was imposed. Mauri Saalakhan, a leader of a Maryland human rights group called the Peace and Justice Foundation, which supports Islamic causes, said outside the courthouse that the sentence was "a tragedy not just for Dr. Timimi but for all of us."…..
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/14/national/14cleric.html
The Peace and Justice Foundation statement
on the Sentencing of Dr. Ali al-Tamimi
Mauri' Saalakhan, Director of Operations of the Peace and Justice Foundation of Silver Spring, Maryland said on the Sentencing of Dr. Ali al-Tamimi,:
“One man is a non-Muslim business leader convicted of a tangible crime. He [former Worldcom CEO, Bernard Ebbers] presided over 'the largest corporate fraud in U.S. History.' His administration's actions wiped out billions of investor dollars and personal savings, resulting in untold human carnage. He received a sentence of 25 years, and doesn't have to begin his sentence until October of this year. Not only that, the federal judge in the case [Barbara Jones] has stated that she would accept written arguments from the lawyers on whether Ebbers 'should be allowed to remain free while he appeals the verdict.'
“Another man, a Muslim religious leader [Dr. Ali Tamimi] is convicted of a thought crime, in an alleged “terrorist conspiracy” - a conspiracy which, even according to the government, never achieved fruition. His was the crime of speech; and for his speech he received a sentence of Life, without the possibility of parole. This “criminal” was immediately taken into custody, and will no doubt begin serving his sentence in a federal prison far removed from his family. These are examples of 'the rule of law,' and justice American style
“Today a decision was made, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, that brings the United States of America no closer to the realization of ”national security.” If anything, it takes the nation further away from its illusory pursuit. Judge Leonie Brinkema sentenced Dr. Ali al-Tamimi to LIFE (without the possibility of parole) for essentially saying things that the court found offensive.
“The Government's decision to prosecute this case; the jury's decision (verdict) after hearing this case; and Judge Brinkema's official stamp at the conclusion of this case, are all reflective of the pro-prosecutorial bias that surrounds any Muslim accused of a “serious” criminal offense. The tragic events in London just a few days ago helped to ensure that Ali Tamimi – and any other Muslim(s) so situated – would not have a snowball's chance in hell of receiving any type of “fair and impartial” disposition.
At the end of the day, we fully agree with an observation made by Dr. Tamimi at the conclusion of his statement to the court: “Imprisonment of any term, as this Court well knows, is a crisis for the incarcerated and his or her loved ones. I am no exception. But the real crisis brought on by my imprisonment, I sincerely believe, is America's. For if my conviction is to stand, it would mean that two hundred and thirty years of America's tradition of protecting the individual from the tyrannies and whims of the sovereign will have come to an end. And that which is exploited today to persecute a single member of a minority will most assuredly come back to haunt the majority tomorrow.”
Dr. Tamimi's astute observation reminds us of the words of one of America's most distinguished “Founding Fathers.” At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in 1789, Benjamin Franklin was asked, “What have you wrought?” His response: “A Republic, if you can keep it!”
http://www.altimimi.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=190&Itemid=109
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