The Muhammad Salah Bottomline
Ahmed Rehab, The Electronic Intifada, 1 February 2007
For many years now, Mr. Muhammad Salah lived life in the infamy of being labeled as the only designated US terrorist. He suffered the repercussions of this judgment, long before he could face an open and fair trial in a US Court of law. His assets were frozen, and his life shattered. His family carried the burden of this label to their schools, workplaces, and to the local supermarket.
Today at the completion of an emotionally tolling trial on Mr. Salah and his family, the final verdict is out.
Though he was found guilty of obstructing justice, he was found not guilty of racketeering -- the major charge. The third charge of providing material support to a terrorist organization had been dropped mid-trial.
And so, here's the final word: Mr. Muhammad Salah is neither a terrorist nor a criminal for having supplied charitable aid to the most vulnerable factions of his occupied and war-ravaged country of origin, Palestine; a jury of his peers understand that to be true.
Our justice system has affirmed what many in his family have long claimed, that Muhammad Salah, a conscientious and upright family man and community member was only guilty of being a bold Palestinian activist. His fate is one that befalls many of his kind. It is to my personal relief, that our justice system is where the buck stops on the political persecution of the embattled Palestinian people.
My sense of pride in our court system, however, comes with reservation. Justice as we know it in America involves more than just an endpoint, it invovles the process of how to get there. And while the verdict vindicates Salah and his name, the process, the trial, raises questions for those of us who are concerned about the rule of law, and the sanctity of our constitutional rights.
As a civil rights organization, our aspiration is to see every American granted his or her full rights under any and all circumstances.
Muhammad Salah's right to a fair trial was forgone when the court decided to accept statements he made under torture. It is a cause for concern to the American people when a U.S. court endorses foreign interrogation methods and detention practices that would be considered illegal under U.S. law.
Mr. Salah was systematically tortured by the Israeli Secret Service and interrogated for 80 days. In some countries, such brutality is typically used to break down the psychological condition of a suspect. Because the manner in which the confession was extracted would be inadmissible in the United States, it is repugnant to the public policy of American courts.
Muhammad Salah's 6th Amendment right to a public trial was also violated when the court ruled that portions of the suppression hearings and trial would be closed to the public.
Also, Muhammad Salah's due process rights were violated when his assets were frozen before he could have the opportunity to defend himself in a public trial.
We hope that the suffering of the Salah family is over. We also hope that the "terrorism" label be reserved in the future for those found guilty of that charge in an open and fair trail administered in a respected court of law.
Ahmed Rehab is the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Chicago's Executive Director. He can be reached at (847) 971-3963 or (312) 212-1520 or at director@cairchicago.org. This article was originally published by CAIR-Chicago and is republished with permission.
electronicintifada.net
themilitant.com
Vol.62/No.33 September 21, 1998
Chicago: Hundreds Protest FBI Frame-Up Of Palestinian
BY JOHN VOTAVA
CHICAGO - "The sentiment against this unprecedented action is not just shared by Muslims but by anybody looking in an unbiased way.... These people must be given a chance to defend themselves." This was the statement by Ibrahim Elgindy of the Muslim Americans for Civil Rights and Legal Defense just before the beginning of a prayer meeting and protest organized at the Federal Office building here August 14.
Elgindy was referring to moves by the FBI in June to confiscate the house and personal bank accounts of Mohammad Salah, a Palestinian who has lived in Chicago for more than 25 years, leaving him and his family without any means of support. FBI agents also seized assets of the Quranic Literacy Institute, whose primary endeavor is to produce a new English interpretation of the Quran. The confiscations were based on a complaint that government officials filed in federal court claiming "probable cause to believe that the defendant properties constitute funds or property traceable to funds... to be used in support of a conspiracy involving international terrorist activity."
To this day the FBI has failed to file any criminal charges against either Salah or the QLI. However, based upon a civil forfeiture provision of a law supposedly aimed at alleged drug dealers, they are expected to prove their innocence in order to get their assets back. Under the guise of investigating their allegations against Salah, FBI officials have visited more than 50 Muslim families in the area. Elgindy said that "people are now reluctant to support the Institute, and this will affect its work."
In response to this attack on democratic rights, 300 people, most of them Muslim, came to the Federal Plaza protest to show solidarity with the defendants and to oppose this attempt to intimidate Arabs and Muslims in Chicago.
Seema Iman, who spoke at the rally following the prayer meeting, gave much of her time to the theme: "I'm proud to be a Muslim." Kamron Memom, who chaired the event, declared, "We consider this our country, to be our home, and we are not going anywhere."
The Muslim Americans for Civil Rights and Legal Defense organized a rally in Westmont, Illinois, August 23 that about 500 people attended. Jonathan Rothstein, an attorney at the same law office as Matt Piers, who represents Mohammad Salah, gave one of the main presentations. This case "fits into a pattern," he said, noting that in earlier decades there were attacks and witch-hunts against anarchists, communists, civil rights activists, and those opposed to the Vietnam War. "This is another attack of that kind."
He also described how thoroughgoing the harassment of Mr. Salah is, "He cannot hold a job, go on a bus, or go to the store" without checking with the FBI. "He needs permission to see a doctor." Rothstein said the government's case against Salah is his alleged confession under duress to charges by the Israeli government of supporting the Palestinian organization Hamas, for which Salah spent five years in an Israeli jail. Also speaking at the rally was Rep. Paul Findley.
The next step in the case will be September 18, when Mohammad Salah and his lawyers will file motions before a federal judge outlining the steps they intend to take in the attempt to have his personal assets returned. |
