Al-Arian Indicted for Refusal To Testify in Charities Cases

A Palestinian Arab activist and former college professor who has been locked in a long-running legal battle with federal prosecutors, Sami Al-Arian, was indicted yesterday on two counts of criminal contempt for refusing to testify before grand juries investigating Islamic charities based in Virginia and elsewhere.

Al-Arian, 50, has argued that he could not be required to testify in the probes under the terms of his guilty plea in 2006 to a charge of providing assistance to a terrorist organization. The plea resolved the stalemate that followed a six-month-long criminal trial in Florida in 2005 stemming from allegations that he acted as Palestinian Islamic Jihad's chief representative in America. A jury acquitted Al-Arian on some charges, but could not reach a verdict on others

Two federal appeals courts rejected Al-Arian's claims that his plea absolved him from having to testify in the investigations being pursued from Alexandria, Va. Al-Arian, who has been in jail since he was indicted in the Florida case in 2003, was scheduled to be released and deported last year, but a judge extended Al-Arian's sentence while he was in civil contempt for refusing to testify.

Al-Arian, a former computer science professor at the University of South Florida, went on a 57-day hunger strike last year to protest his treatment.

In an interview last night, one of Al-Arian's daughters said prosecutors are intent on keeping Al-Arian in prison, despite the muddled jury verdict two years ago.

"Their loss in his trial was such a high-profile blow to them. It seems like sour grapes," Laila Al-Arian said. "They're just trying to abuse the law."

Under federal law, Al-Arian could not be jailed for more than 18 months for civil contempt. However, the law sets no particular prison sentence for criminal contempt. In theory, if convicted, Al-Arian could be jailed for life or receive the death penalty.

According to court records, the grand juries were investigating a Herndon, Va.-based Muslim research group, the International Institute of Islamic Thought. In the early 1990s, that group provided at least $50,000 in funding to a Tampa, Fla.-based group founded by Al-Arian, the World and Islam Studies Enterprise.

The indictment was handed up yesterday, but notations in court files suggest it was prepared in April, at about the time the Kuwaiti-born Al-Arian finished serving his criminal sentence and was transferred into immigration custody to await deportation.