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Daughter of Sami Al-Arian Says Family "Devastated"
by Father's Continued Imprisonment, Blasts Media Coverage
Sami Al-Arian Co-Defendant Sameeh Hammoudeh Remains in Jail
Four Months After Being Acquitted of All Charges
Stephen Colbert's Blistering Performance Mocking Bush and
the Press Goes Ignored by the Media
Daughter of Sami Al-Arian Says Family "Devastated"
by Father's Continued Imprisonment, Blasts Media Coverage
The case of Palestinian professor and activist Sami al-Arian
took another turn this week when a federal judge in Florida
sentenced him to another year and a half in prison. We speak
with his daughter, Laila al-Arian, his attorney, Linda Moreno
and journalist John Sugg who has been closely following the
case. The case of Palestinian professor and activist Sami
al-Arian took another turn this week when a federal judge
in Florida sentenced him to another year and a half in prison.
Al-Arian has been at the center of one of the most closely
watched - and controversial - post 9/11 prosecutions. He was
arrested in February 2003 and accused of being a leader of
the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The government's case against Al-Arian included 11 years
of FBI wiretaps and searches, three years of trial preparation
by federal prosecutors, millions of dollars in costs and a
six-month trial that ended last December.
At the end of it all, the jury failed to return a single
guilty verdict on any of the 53 criminal counts brought against
Al-Arian and three co-defendants. One of those co-defendants
- Sameeh Hammoudeh - will join us on the phone from a Florida
jail in a few minutes. He remains imprisoned despite being
acquitted of all the charges against him. Al-Arian himself
was acquitted on eight counts and the jury hung on nine others.
Last month, Al-Arian signed a plea agreement with prosecutors
to plead guilty to a lesser version of one of the deadlocked
charges, namely that he helped members of Palestinian Islamic
Jihad with immigration and legal matters at a time before
the State Department designated it a terrorist group.
At his sentencing on Monday, US District Judge James Moody
ignored the recommendation of prosecutors and defense attorneys
for a lower sentence and gave Al-Arian as much prison time
as possible under the plea deal - 57 months, followed by deportation.
With credit for time served, Al-Arian will spend another
18 months behind bars. He has been in prison for over three
years now, much of it in solitary confinement.
It is not clear where the government would deport Al-Arian
who is a Palestinian born in Kuwait and raised mostly in Egypt.
He has lived in the United States for the past 30 years and
holds permanent residency status. His five children were born
in the US and are all American citizens. Today, one of them
joins us in our firehouse studio, Lailia Al-Arian is Sami
Al-Arian's eldest daughter. We are also joined by Al-Arian's
attorney, Linda Moreno and journalist John Sugg who has been
closely following the case.
- Laila Al-Arian, eldest daughter of Sami al-Arian. She
is a journalism student at Columbia University.
- Linda Moreno, attorney for Sami al-Arian.
- John Sugg, senior editor for Creative Loafing, an Atlanta-based
alternative weekly newspaper. He has closely followed the
Sami Al-Arian for the past 10 years.
- Website: JohnSugg.com
Sami Al-Arian Co-Defendant Sameeh Hammoudeh Remains
in Jail Four Months After Being Acquitted of All Charges
We look the case of one of Sami Al-Arian's co-defendants,
Sameeh Hammoudeh. Despite being acquitted in December of all
the terrorism charges against him, he remains behind bars.
Hammoudeh speaks to us from jail in Florida and we go to Ramallah
to speak with his daughter, Weeam, who is waiting for him
to be released and deported.
We look the case of one of Sami Al-Arian's co-defendants,
Sameeh Hammoudeh. In December, he was found not guilty of
all charges against him and the judge in the case ordered
his immediate release from jail.
Hammoudeh, who is also Palestinian, expected to be immediately
deported along with his wife and six children. The deportation
was part of an agreement in exchange for pleading guilty to
tax and immigration violations in a separate case in which
he received no jail time.
But officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement took
him into custody, saying initially that its standard of innocence
was different from the jury's. A spokeswoman for the agency
said they believed that "Hammoudeh had ties to terrorists,"
despite his acquittal.
Nearly four months after being acquitted of all terrorism
charges, he remains behind bars. Sameeh Hammoudeh joins us
on the line now from Manatee County Jail in Bradenton, Florida.
We are also joined by Sameeh Hammoudeh"s daughter, Weeam.
She joins us on the line from Ramallah in the West Bank. The
family moved there after her mother was deported in February.
- Sameeh Hammoudeh, speaking from the Manatee County Jail
in Bradenton, Florida.
- Weeam Hammoudeh, daughter of Sameeh Hammoudeh speaking
from Ramallah, West Bank.
- John Sugg, senior editor for Creative Loafing, an Atlanta-based
alternative weekly newspaper. He has closely followed the
Sami Al-Arian for the past 10 years.
Website: JohnSugg.com
Stephen Colbert's Blistering Performance Mocking
Bush and the Press Goes Ignored by the Media
Stephen Colbert, the host of the Comedy Central fake news
program "The Colbert Report" repeatedly mocked President
Bush and the press for its failings in a blistering routine
at the White House Correspondents Association annual dinner
Saturday night. We play his comments.
On Saturday night, over 2,000 journalists, politicians and
Washington insiders gathered for the White House Correspondents
Association annual dinner. President Bush was there and took
part in a skit with presidential impersonator Steve Bridges.
And then there was the featured entertainer, Stephen Colbert,
the host of the Comedy Central fake news program, The
Colbert Report.
If you followed how the corporate press covered the night
you might not have even realized Colbert spoke but he gave
a talk that repeatedly mocked the President and the press
for its failings.
According to the media watchdog group Media Matters, subsequent
press coverage focused only on Bush's light-hearted comedy,
while omitting mention of Colbert's blistering performance.
On May 1, all three major networks played clips of Bush's
routine on their morning shows, but ignored Colbert entirely.
CNN's American Morning did the same. The New York Times initial
coverage of the night omitted any reference to Colbert.
Several media critics have questioned why the press ignored
Colbert's criticism of the president.
At the same time, the Colbert performance has been one of
the most talked about topics on the Internet. Today we are
going to give you a chance to hear comedian Stephen Colbert
in his own words. This is what he said at the White House
Correspondents Association dinner.
- Stephen Colbert, host of the Comedy Central fake news
program The
Colbert Report, addressing thousands of journalists
and President Bush at the White House Correspondents Association
dinner, May 1, 2006.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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