TAMPA, Fla., Nov 7 (Reuters) - A fired Florida university professor and three other Palestinians sent money to a group that they knew had killed Israelis and Americans, a prosecutor said on Monday in closing arguments. The prosecutor's statement came at the end of a five-month trial in one of the most important cases to go before a U.S. court since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.Palestinian academic Sami al-Arian was arrested in February 2003, along with Sameeh Hammoudeh, Hatem Fariz and Ghassan Ballut on charges they helped the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, named by Washington as a terrorist organization. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cherie Krigsman told jurors that evidence indicated the four men raised and sent money to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad "when they knew the PIJ murdered people."
"The evidence has shown time and time again that the defendants acted to further the goals of the PIJ," she said.
Al-Arian, a former professor at the University of South Florida, and the others were charged in a 53-count indictment with conspiracy to commit murder, racketeering, money laundering, immigration fraud and obstruction of justice. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison. The defendants have said any funds they sent to the Islamic Jihad was for charitable activities. Al-Arian said he was being persecuted for his outspoken support of Palestinian causes.
At the time of the indictment, then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said Al-Arian was the Islamic Jihad's North American leader. The United States designated the Islamic Jihad a terrorist organization in 1997 and said it was responsible for killing more than 100 people in Israel, including three Americans. But Krigsman disagreed. "When you support a terrorist group, you support a terrorist group," she said.
Krigsman said there was no direct evidence that the defendants committed any murders. But she told jurors they could use circumstantial evidence and their common sense to find that the defendants were acting to further the goals of the Islamic Jihad.
None of the defendants testified at the trial. Al-Arian and Ballut did not call any witnesses.
Most of the government's evidence was based on thousands of hours of wiretapped telephone calls along with intercepted e-mails and faxes and bank records. Al-Arian founded the Tampa-based Islamic Committee for Palestine and the World and Islam Studies Enterprise. Attorneys for the defendants will make their closing arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday before the case goes to the jury.