Action Alert for Sami Al-Arian
As we speak, the US government is manipulating the justice system to keep the high-profile prisoner Dr. Sami Al-Arian imprisoned indefinitely.
Despite having never been convicted of any crime whatsoever, and despite being an upright citizen who dedicated his life to improving America, Dr. Al-Arian has been imprisoned since 2003 for exercising his First Amendment rights. Any day now, he may be indicted on criminal contempt, a charge that carries a minimum sentence of five years. Another Palestinian-American professor in a similar case was sentenced to eleven years for criminal contempt last fall.
On March 20th, in a blatant violation of the plea agreement signed between Dr. Al-Arian and the U.S. government, a Virginia federal judge forced Dr. Al-Arian to appear in court to testify before a third grand jury. Given that the government had in the past cynically twisted his words to try to convict him of perjury, Dr. Al-Arian recognized the perjury trap laid for him, and refused to testify as his attorneys advised.
Dr. Al-Arian’s sentence ended on April 11th; his imprisonment since then has been completely illegal.
For more details of this case, watch this gripping YouTube video <youtube.com/watch?v=NPdpxxBR2jk> and check out our new pamphlets at <pamphlets.freesaminow.com>.
PLEASE SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!
2 PHONE CALLS + 1 EMAIL = HUGE DIFFERENCE
1. Please sign our petition at <petition.freesaminow.com>.
2. Call Vincent Archibeque, Assistant Field Office Director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): (703) 285-6221.
Stress that Dr. Al-Arian’s prison term ended on April 11th and that his imprisonment since then has been completely illegal. Ask Mr. Archibeque to do everything he can to ensure that Dr. Al-Arian is released and deported as soon as possible in accordance with the terms of his plea agreement.
3. Call the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (Department of Homeland Security): (866)-644-8360 (press 1 for English and then press 5 to leave a message).
Stress that Dr. Al-Arian’s prison term ended on April 11th and that his imprisonment since then has been completely illegal. Ask that Dr. Al-Arian be released and deported as soon as possible in accordance with the terms of his plea agreement.
Again, always be polite but firm.
If you don’t speak to a live person:
- simply leave a message on the answering machine; and
- call back later that day or the next day to try to get through.
4. Email Attorney General Michael Mukasey: ASKDOJ@usdoj.gov
Ask Mr. Mukasey to ensure that Dr. Al-Arian is deported as soon as possible in accordance with the plea agreement. (For a letter template, please go to <freesamialarian.com/letters/sample1.doc>.)
- Before sending the email, make sure to BCC (NOT CC!) samialarianactioncommittee@gmail.com
NOTE: In any given civil rights campaign, there are always more people willing to make a phone call than write an email. Your emails are very important. Just use our letter template and take just five minutes to write out your message. Precisely because so few people ever write their own letter, yours will be exponentially more powerful for that.
To learn how you can help even more, please visit: freesamialarian.com/help.html
Lastly, don’t forget to PRAY for Dr. Al-Arian and his family.
Brought to you by the Sami Al-Arian Action Committee
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