Judge Rejects Anonymous Jury In Hamas Trial

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A federal judge in Chicago has rejected the government’s request for an anonymous jury for a trial of two men accused of funneling money to a Palestinian Arab terrorist group, Hamas.

Judge Amy St. Eve said there was nothing in the background of the defendants, Abdelhaleem Ashqar and Muhammad Salah, to suggest tampering with jurors was likely.

“The government has not presented evidence that either defendant has a history or likelihood of obstruction of justice or has previously attempted to interfere with the judicial process to the extent necessary to warrant the empaneling of an anonymous jury,” she wrote in an order late Tuesday. “The obstruction of justice and contempt charges in the indictment — namely defendant Ashqar’s alleged refusal to testify before two grand juries, and defendant Salah’s alleged material falsehoods in sworn answers to interrogatories in a separate civil case — do not indicate a likelihood of intimidation or harassment of jurors to justify empaneling an anonymous jury.”

Judge St. Eve noted there was no charge that either defendant participated directly in any violence. “The mere invocation of the word ‘terrorism,’ without more, is insufficient to warrant such an anonymous jury,” she wrote.

The judge said she would meet with lawyers this morning to discuss a way to prevent distribution of information about the jurors to the public, while making it available to the litigants. She has not yet ruled on a prosecution request that some Israeli witnesses be permitted to appear in “light disguise.”


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