[Ppnews] Al-Arian's co-defendant to accept deal for prison

[Political Prisoner News]

Al-Arian's co-defendant to accept deal for prison




The Spring Hill resident, who is a U.S. citizen, may not have to 
spend as much time in prison as Sami Al-Arian.

By MEG LAUGHLIN
Published May 12, 2006

Hatem Fariz, the only remaining co-defendant of Sami Al-Arian's, may 
soon go to prison as part of a plea deal.

The reason in his words: "I always try to help out."

In the past eight months, the Spring Hill resident has flipped 
burgers on a grill at a barbecue at his kids' school, collected 
tickets at a school carnival, and parked cars at a community dinner.

"That's who he is - someone always there to do the grunt work," says 
his former attorney Kevin Beck.

Federal prosecutors say he offered another kind of help - to a terrorist group.

After a six-month terrorism-related trial which ended in December, a 
jury acquitted Fariz of 25 terrorism-related charges and deadlocked 
on eight. Rather than be retried, Fariz is accepting a plea deal, said Beck.

This was the thrust of the case against Fariz:

Between 2000 and 2002, Fariz sent money raised in Tampa and Chicago 
to Elehssan, a charity in the Gaza Strip, which also was financially 
supported by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group that has taken credit 
for hundreds of deaths in Israel and the occupied territories. 
Because the PIJ helped support Elehssan, the government says that by 
sending money to Elehssan, Fariz also helped the PIJ.

At Fariz's six-month federal trial with Al-Arian and two other 
co-defendants, no evidence linked the money sent by Fariz to Elehssan 
to PIJ violence. Instead, according to transcripts of FBI wiretaps, 
the money appears to have bought food packets and school and medical 
supplies for needy Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Trial evidence also showed that the Palestinian Authority, the 
recognized government of the occupied territories, certified Elehssan 
to do its charitable work when Fariz was sending money to it, in 2001.

But the crux of the U.S. government's case against Fariz, which will 
probably be the basis of the plea deal and the prison sentence, is 
not based on where the money appears to have gone or the Palestinian 
Authority's permission for Elehssan to operate in Gaza. It is based, 
instead, on links between Fariz and Elehssan and the PIJ.

More specifically, the link is this: In October 2000, Palestinian 
Authority legislator Ziad Abu-Amr sent an affidavit to Sami Al-Arian 
to be used at an immigration hearing for Mazen Al-Najjar, Al-Arian's 
brother-in-law who faced deportation because of secret evidence that 
he had PIJ connections.

The purpose of the affidavit: To show that the PIJ had more than a 
violent military wing. It also had a charitable, cultural and educational wing.

Abu-Amr wrote, "The PIJ . . . engages openly in political, social and 
cultural activities, which are tolerated by the Palestinian 
Authority. The PIJ engages in a wide range of nonviolent activities . 
. . and runs or supports a number of civil and social institutions . 
. . (including) the Ihsan (Elehssan) Charity which . . . supports 
several hundred families and hundreds of poor school children."

To bolster the connection between Fariz and the PIJ, the government 
pointed to a PIJ-related Web site on Fariz's confiscated computer, 
which asked for Elehssan charitable contributions. The government 
also presented more than a dozen money transfers made by Fariz to 
Elehssan branch directors in Gaza.

With the plea agreement and sentencing of Fariz, the 
terrorism-related case of Sami Al-Arian and three co-defendants will 
finally come to an end, after a decade-long investigation. Two of the 
co-defendants, Ghassan Ballut and Sameeh Hammoudeh were acquitted. 
Al-Arian was acquitted of eight counts and the jury deadlocked on 
nine. As part of a plea deal, Al-Arian pleaded guilty last week to 
one charge of helping PIJ associates in nonviolent ways. He was 
sentenced to 57 months in prison.

Beck would not discuss the specifics of Fariz' deal, except to say: 
"Hatem's sentence will probably be less than Al-Arian's."

According to court documents, Fariz, 33, is a U.S. citizen from a 
small town near San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was raised in Bridgeview, 
Ill., where he was captain of the soccer team. He got bachelor's and 
master's degrees in computer science from the University of 
Northeastern Illinois.

Documents at his bail hearing said that he led numerous outreach 
programs at his mosque to denounce terrorism. His bail: $1.2-million.

In early 2002, he moved to Spring Hill, north of Tampa, to manage a 
medical clinic. A year later, on Feb. 20, he was arrested at the home 
he shares with his wife and three small boys.

Meg Laughlin can be reached at 
<mailto:mlaughlin at sptimes.com>mlaughlin at sptimes.com or 727 893-8068.


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