The latest from the Land of the Freak....
Students protest Islamic conference probe
13-02-2004
By MATT JOYCE, Associated Press Writer
AUSTIN, Texas, AP - University of Texas law students and civil rights activists accused the Army of spying on a conference on Islam and denounced an investigation of conference participants as a "campaign of fear."
Sahar Aziz, a UT law student, said Friday that organizers of the conference would not willingly turn over to Army investigators a partial list of participants or a video of the conference, titled "Islam and the Law: The Question of Sexism."
"It is inappropriate for us to invite the public and the student body to come and freely exchange ideas and then to turn around and relay their personal information to the intelligence community," Aziz said.
Deborah Parker, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Belvoir, Va., declined to comment, saying the students' allegations are under review.
Conference organizers said two Army agents visited the UT Law School on Monday and knocked on various doors in pursuit of a list of participants and a video of the conference, which took place last week.
The agents said they were following up on reports from Army lawyers who attended the conference and said they were approached by "suspicious" Middle Eastern men, according to Aziz.
Jim Harrington, of the Texas Civil Rights Project, said the tactics at the law school were meant to "intimidate and scare people from using the First Amendment."
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