| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Home Front | |
| Sami Al-Arian has new high-profile attorney | |
| 2003-11-01 | |
| A prominent Washington attorney taking on the defense of a former professor indicted on charges he raised money for Islamic terrorists said Friday his first challenge to the government is to justify the conditions under which his client is being held. William B. Moffitt said the U.S. Justice Department’s insistence that Sami Al-Arian be held under strict confinement at a federal prison northeast of Tampa is violating Al-Arian’s right to assist in his own defense. A hearing will be held Nov. 7 in U.S. District Court in Tampa on the matter. Moffitt said Al-Arian, who faces a 50-count indictment that he used an academic think tank and a charity at the University of South Florida as fronts for financing the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is being treated as if he has already been convicted of a crime. Al-Arian is housed in the same unit as inmates who have assaulted corrections officers or other prisoners and are considered too dangerous to be held elsewhere. (snip) Moffitt joined the case this week after Al-Arian’s family and supporters were able to raise enough money for a retainer. Moffitt declined to discuss the finances; Al-Arian’s family had previously said it would cost as much as $1.5 million for Moffitt’s services. Not doing this pro bono. At least two groups are helping raise money for Al-Arian’s defense: the National Liberty Fund in Washington and the Muslim Civil Rights Center in Hickory Hills, Ill. Ahmad Tansheet, community outreach coordinator for the Muslim Civil Rights Center, said a fund-raiser held in Chicago on Oct. 19 raised about $7,000 for Al-Arian’s defense. Telephone calls to the National Liberty Fund were not returned Friday. Tansheet said raising money for Al-Arian has been difficult, despite his long standing as a community activist, because people are afraid to donate to him and draw the attention of federal investigators. I blame John Ashcroft. Moffitt is the former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a legal commentator on national news programs. Among the big cases he has handled is the 1995 trial of William Aramony, the former president of United Way who was charged with defrauding the charity of more than $1 million (details of outcome of trial here). More recently, Moffitt represented Agus Budiman, an Indonesian man living in Virginia who federal agents said had links to the Sept. 11 hijackers. Budiman denied any connection and in May 2002 was convicted of document fraud. "Lies, all lies." The judge gave Budiman a sentence equal to the seven months he’d spent behind bars awaiting trial and Budiman was deported. At the time, Moffitt said his client was a victim of guilt by association and criticized the government’s prosecution.
| |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #3 I wonder which embassy provided the funs - not. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-11-1 8:18:06 PM |
| #2 He defended a guy who defrauded a charity? Then he already knows most of al-Arian's defense, since a lot of the jihad cash collected is earmarked for "charities". |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-11-1 1:53:03 PM |
| #1 Advice to Moffitt - get that check up front. |
| Posted by: Raj 2003-11-1 1:03:14 PM |