Supporters of DR. SAMI AL-ARIAN Hold Press Conference to Demand His Release

1) Supporters of DR. SAMI AL-ARIAN Hold Press Conference to Demand His Release

2) Call to protest solitary confinement of Dr. Al-Arian – SIGN the Petition

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Supporters of DR. SAMI AL-ARIAN Hold Press Conference to Demand His Release 

Dept. of Justice Must Keep its Promise to Release Palestinian Professor on Hunger Strike

Press Conference: Tues, April 15, 2008 To Demand the Release of Dr. Sami Al-Arian

Who: The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial, Educational and Cultural Center, American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights, and the Council on American Islamic Relations

WHAT: Press Conference to Call for the Release of Hunger Striking Palestinian Professor Sami Al-Arian

WHEN: Tuesday, April 15, 2008, 11 A.M.

WHERE: The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center
3940 Broadway, (at 165th Street) New York City, N.Y. 10032
(212) 568.1341

SPEAKERS:

LAILA AL-ARIAN, Daughter of Sami Al-Arian

MALAAK SHABAZZ, daughter of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz -- Malcolm X

THE HONORABLE RAMSEY CLARK

IMAM SIRAJ WAHAJIMAM TALIB ABDUR-RASHID, Cair-NY Civil Rights Director, Sr.

HEIDI BOGHOSIAN, Executive Director of the National Lawyers' Guild

ALIYA LATIF, Civil Rights Director: Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR

SARA FLOUNDERS, Co-Director, The International Action Center

NEW YORK, NY. - Friday, April 11, is the scheduled release date of Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian professor on a hunger strike, who has been imprisoned for more than five years. But the Department of Justice, through its continuous abuse of the grand jury system, is threatening to keep him imprisoned for many years.

This Tuesday, April 15, AT 11 A.M., American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections, hosted by the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial, Educational Center and Cultural Center, will hold a press conference to demand Dr. Al-Arian's release as promised.

Sami Al-Arian, 50, was a tenured professor of computer engineering at the University of South Florida. He was arrested in February 2003 with much fanfare, and charged in a bloated terrorism conspiracy case. A jury acquitted him of the most serious charges in December 2005. Under a plea agreement reached in 2006, Dr. Al-Arian should have been released last April at the latest. By forcing him to testify, prosecutors are violating that agreement. For more on the case, please visit www.freesaminow.com

Dr. Al-Arian began a hunger strike on March 3 to protest continued government harassment. That day, Dr. Al-Arian was informed that he would be called to testify before a grand jury in Virginia. "The mistreatment of Dr. Al-Arian is part of the overall oppression of the Palestinian people. This is cruel punishment," said Agha Saeed, chairman of the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT). "The government is playing a cat and mouse game with him. They did not decide to do this until the last minute, just as he's about to be released. This amounts to psychological torture."

"Malcolm X stated, "Any person who claims to have deep feelings for other human beings should think a long, long time before he votes to have other men kept behind bars - caged. Behind the bars, a man never reforms- he can't forget those bars." The past decades have been marred by the erosion of civil liberties and the systemic silencing through incarceration, torture, and deportation of non-conformist voices. Unfortunately our brothers and sisters in the Islamic community are the latest victims of such practices. The continued, unwarranted incarceration of Dr. Al-Arian is a violation of his human rights." Dowoti Désir, Executive Director, The Shabazz Center.

If you'd like more information on this topic, please visit www.freesaminow.com, or to schedule an interview with any of the speakers at the press conference, please call: 212-568.1341 or email ddesir@theshabazzcenter.org.

About The Shabazz Center at the historic Audubon Ballroom.

Built in 1912, the Audubon Ballroom has been used as a vaudeville house, a movie theater and a meeting hall. When Malcolm X founded the Organization of Afro-American Unity (OAAU) after leaving the Nation of Islam in 1964, he used the space for the group's weekly meetings. The Audubon Ballroom now houses The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, after an extensive renovation by NYC Economic Development Corporation.

The Shabazz Center is a 501 c(3) that honors the lives and legacies of Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz by promoting human and civil rights through knowledge of the history and culture of the African Diaspora; education and self-empowerment; family values; and facilitating racial and religious reconciliation.

The Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial & Educational Center3940 Broadway (at 165th Street)New York, NY 10032  Telephone: (212) 568-1341

Contact: Dowoti Désir,
Executive Director
The Shabazz Center
ddesir@theshabazzcenter.org   Corinne Innis (infor@pennflemingpr.com)

Executive Director
Penn Fleming Public Relations
PO. Box 619
New York, NY   10276
Phone : 347-621-3623

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Supporters are circulating the following petition and statement:


Call to protest solitary confinement of Dr. Al-Arian – SIGN the Petition

URGENT: WEAKENED DR. AL-ARIAN W/O MEDICAL SUPERVISION; PLS CALL PRISON 
April 12, 2008

Early this morning, five days after he was scheduled to be released from his unjust imprisonment, Dr. Al-Arian was placed in solitary confinement with NO medical supervision despite being on the 41st day of his hunger strike. That, plus the fact that solitary confinement is marked by freezing temperatures and constant deafening alarms is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS FOR HIS HEALTH.

PLEASE CALL THE PRISON ASAP AND ASK THEM TO REMOVE DR. AL-ARIAN FROM THE SPECIAL HOUSING UNIT AND TO PROVIDE HIM WITH PROPER MEDICAL TREATMENT: (410) 313-5200.

Also, in case you have not already done so, please sign our petition to release Dr. Al-Arian at http://www.freesamialarian.com/pet.php .

Your support at this time is very important and it does make a difference.
Thank you and God bless,
John Halliwell
Administrator, Free Dr. Sami Al-Arian Now!

Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
April 11, 2008

Sami Al-Arian Transferred to Immigration Custody

VIRGINIA-- Today, April 11, 2008, was the scheduled release date of Dr. Sami Al-Arian, according to the U.S. government, but he remains in prison. Earlier today, Dr. Al-Arian was transferred out of the custody of the Bureau of Prisons into the custody of immigration authorities. One of the terms of the plea agreement Dr. Al-Arian signed in April 2006 required the government to facilitate his immediate deportation. The government must finally honor its agreement.

Today also marks the 40th day of Dr. Al-Arian's hunger strike, which he began on Mar. 3 to protest the government's continued attempts to prolong his incarceration indefinitely. He has lost 34 pounds and has experienced dizzy spells and extreme exhaustion in recent days. For the first 18 days, Dr. Al-Arian drank no water. He is determined to continue his hunger strike until he is allowed to leave the country and rejoin his wife and children.

On the day of Dr. Al-Arian's scheduled release, the Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace asks that the U.S. government not take any further action against him. Dr. Al-Arian and his family have suffered years of vicious media attacks, government oppression and political prosecution. It is time to stop wasting taxpayer dollars on prosecuting a man who was vindicated by a jury two and a half years ago.

TAKE ACTION:

Given that Dr. Al-Arian has been on a hunger strike since March 3,
2008 we urgently ask all conscientious and justice-seeking individuals to call, email or write officials to ask for an immediate end to Dr. Al-Arian's suffering.

TALKING POINTS:

1-The Department of Justice signed an agreement with Dr. Al-Arian in April 2006, in which he was promised release and expedited deportation.

2-The U.S. government must end the Department of Justice's abuse of power by not pursuing any additional action against Dr. Al-Arian in the form of grand jury subpoenas or new criminal charges.

3-Given Dr. Al-Arian's hunger strike, which is on its 40th day, there are serious concerns about his health. He should be allowed to be released and rejoin his family for humanitarian reasons.

4- This case is closely watched all over the world. America's public image would be greatly enhanced, particularly in the Middle East and Muslim world, if the government honored its promise to release Dr. Al-Arian.

1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Immigration Field Office
Vincent Archibeque
Acting Field Office Director
2675 Prosperity Avenue
Fairfax, VA. 22031
Phone: 703-285-6200

2- Honorable Judge Gerald Lee
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA 22314
Fax: (703) 299-3339

3- Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Fax Number: (202) 307-6777

BY E-MAIL:
E-mails to the Department of Justice, including the Attorney General,
may be sent to AskDOJ@usdoj.gov