Sami Al-Arian still on hunger strike, protesting his indefinite detention

The Department of Justice under the Bush administration continues to manipulate the legal system to keep Dr. Sami Al-Arian imprisoned indefinitely.

Sami Al-Arian, a computer engineering professor from Tampa, Florida, was arrested on charges of supporting a designated terrorist organization in 2003. Al-Arian proclaimed his innocence and maintained the charges were purely political. Almost three years later, a federal jury reached that same conclusion. Al-Arian was acquitted of the most serious charges against him following a six-month trial in 2005. The jury voted 10 to 2 for acquittal on the remaining charges. Dr. Al-Arian, to end his legal nightmare, then signed a plea bargain with the government that stated he would be released and deported as soon as possible. During the negotiations for the plea bargain, the government agreed to a stipulation by Dr. Al-Arian that he would not be called upon to testify in any other trial. The prosecutors accordingly removed the cooperation clause that is standard in plea agreements in the Middle District of Florida.

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