News & Public Affairs

Al-Arian finally closer to freedom? listen

07/11/08 Mitch E. Perry
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Sami Al-Arian, civil liberties, Race, racism, immigration, ICE, Muslims, USF, human rights

Yesterday, a federal judge in Alexandria, Virginia, order Sami Al-Arian released on his criminal contempt charges, but refused to block immigration authorities from detaining him before he is to be deported.

The U.S. government agreed to "expeditiously" deport Al-Arian in 2006, once he finished serving his criminal sentence in a terrorism support case. He was arrested in 2003.

But over the past couple of years, as he served his time for pleading guilty to one charge of materially suppor...

Be the first to comment

Al-Arian arraigned on contempt charge listen

06/30/08 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Sami Al-Arian

Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian was formally arraigned today in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia. Thursday Al-Arian was charged with two counts of contempt of court, stemming from his refusal to testify before a Virginia grand jury.

Al-Arian’s daughter, freelance journalist Laila Al-Arian, was at Monday’s arraignment in Alexandria, and said the judge is considering releasing Dr. Al-Arian on bond while he is awaiting trial on contempt charges.

...

Be the first to comment

Al-Arian indicted on contempt charge listen

06/27/08 Seán Kinane

Tags: Sami Al-Arian

Former USF professor Dr. Sami Al-Arian, who has completed his sentence and was awaiting deportation, was indicted Thursday on two counts of contempt of court in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Dr. Al-Arian was tried in Tampa in 2005 and found not guilty of eight charges.

Al-Arian signed a plea agreement in 2006 under government threats of a second trial. He pled guilty to one count of assisting associates of a terrorist group with nonviolent activities. His sentence was supposed to ...

1 comments

Naomi Klein responds to Al-Arian indictment

06/27/08 Mary Glenny

Tags: Sami Al-Arian

Naomi Klein is an activist and author; her most recent book is titled The Shock Doctrine, The Rise of Disaster Capitalism.

WMNF Women’s Show host Mary Glenny spoke with Klein today and asked for her reaction to the latest indictment of Dr. Sami Al-Arian.

Be the first to comment

Al-Arian ends hunger strike listen

05/01/08 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Sami Al-Arian, civil liberties, Race, racism, immigration, ICE, Muslims, USF, human rights

Former USF engineering professor Dr. Sami Al-Arian suspended his most recent hunger strike on Monday and has since been moved from solitary confinement to the general population of the Hampton Roads Regional Jail in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Al-Arian has been in jail for more than five years; he completed his sentence last month yet he remains in jail awaiting the deportation called for in his plea agreement, said Mel Underbakke, who is with Friends of Human Rights.

Al-Arian ended his hung...

Be the first to comment

Jails Commission discusses confinement listen

04/25/08 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Independent Review Commission on Jails, Abuse in Tampa Jails, Orient Road Jail, Sami Al-Arian

In response to allegations of abuse of inmates by Orient Road Jail deputies, including a video of intake deputies dumping a man out of his wheelchair, Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee formed a panel to investigate conditions within the county’s jails. The Independent Review Commission on Jails held its fifth meeting today at the Tampa Port Authority on Channelside Drive.

Col. David Parrish administers the Hillsborough County Jail system. He addressed the commission on the different types of ...

Be the first to comment

Supporters seek release of Al-Arian listen

04/15/08 Mitch E. Perry
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Sami Al-Arian

Supporters of former USF professor Sami Al-Arian today demanded that the U.S. government release him from custody and then deport him.

Friday was the scheduled release date for Al-Arian on the single count that pled guilty to in his federal terrorism trial in 2005. That’s when he was moved from a federal jail in Warsaw, Virginia, to an immigration facility in Howard County, Maryland.

Ramzy Kilic is the civil rights coordinator for the Tampa office of the Council on American Islamic Rel...

Be the first to comment

Al-Arian on hunger strike without water listen

03/07/08 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Sami Al-Arian

Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian has been on a hunger strike for five days. He began it after learning on Monday that the government is requiring him to testify before a grand jury in Virginia, a month before he was supposed to be released and deported. Al-Arian family and lawyers say this is just a way for the government to keep him in jail.

In 2005, a Tampa jury found Sami Al-Arian not guilty of eight of the terrorism charges against him. The jury was deadlocked...

Be the first to comment

Judge overturns Al-Arian contempt charge listen

12/14/07 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Sami Al-Arian

Yesterday, a federal judge in Virginia lifted the civil contempt charge that has kept former USF professor Sami Al-Arian in prison for months after he was supposed to be released.

Judge Gerald Lee has been holding status hearings every few months during the last year in Alexandria Virginia, to determine whether Al-Arian should continue to be held on civil contempt for not testifying before a grand jury. Today, WMNF spoke with Abdullah Al-Arian, the eldest son of Dr. Sami Al-Arian, who said...

Be the first to comment

Al-Arian documentary opens in Norway -- by Seán Kinane

02/26/07 Seán Kinane
Listen to this entire show:

Tags: Sami Al-Arian

Last week, the new documentary, USA vs. Al-Arian premiered at theatres across Norway. The film details the trial, plea agreement and sentencing of Dr. Sami Al-Arian and focuses on how his family is being affected. Some members of his family spent last week in Norway to educate the public on the case. WMNF's Seán Kinane traveled to Oslo to find out why there is such a difference in attitude between Norwegians and Americans regarding the Al-Arian case. He files this report.

Outside ...

Be the first to comment