-- he offered Hossain a $50,000 loan, pretending an interest in his pizza shop; as a show of good faith, he asked for $45,000 in checks so Hossain could keep the rest;
-- Hossain was told the money came from a surface-to-air (SAM) Chinese missile purchase that was intended for a group called JEM (Jaish-e-Mohammed - a Pakistani-based Islamic group that's also a designated FTO); and
-- the missile supposedly would be used against the Pakistani ambassador in New York.
It was all untrue, Malik was a willing FBI accomplice, Hossain thought JEM was a musical group, and he knew nothing about terrorism. He went along with the arrangement, and according to Muslim custom, brought in Aref to witness it. Later, the government arrested both men and claimed Aref was part of a money laundering and terrorist scheme. Aref's defense argued that he spoke poor English at the time, believed the loan was legitimate, was unaware of any laws broken, and the affair was a plot to entrap him.
Moreover, in January 2006, the defense learned that "evidence" was illegally obtained through NSA warrantless wiretapping and filed a motion to suppress it. It was denied. The defense appealed and was joined by the New York ACLU. Their appeal was denied on procedural grounds that no action could be taken while the case was still pending. It was unclear how this and other classified evidence (99% withheld from the defense) affected the trial. However, the Court instructed the jury that "the FBI had good and valid suspicions for investigating Yassin Aref."
He and Hossain were arrested in August 2004 and convicted in October 2006 - Hossain on 27 counts and Aref on 10 of 30 charges of money laundering, conspiracy to provide material support for a terrorist plot, terrorism, and making false statements in February 2002 and August 2004.
In March 2007, both men were sentenced to 15 years in prison and have filed appeals. In addition, Aref's counsel filed a lengthy sentencing memorandum to the US District Court for the Northern District of New York. It detailed his client's history and character and concluded as follows:
...."this case....raises a lot of troubling issues (including) the nature of the sting operation, targeting two individuals who had never been in any trouble before, and who clearly were not involved in any illegal activity at the time the informant entered their lives.... Moreover, the case occurred in a post-9/11 climate of great fear when ordinary Americans had become suspicious of Muslims.....history will recognize that this case never should have happened, and that the two defendants were the victims of an unfortunate over-reaction....Yassin Aref asks that the Court seriously consider his entire history and character (and) all (his) letters (of support,) the troubling nature of the case, and impose a truly just sentence."
Before sentencing, Aref professed his innocence and addressed the Court in imperfect English: ...."I know you, (your) Honor, and every single person and everybody, FBI, they check all my record, all my life, they interview thousands of the people....they knew never I did any violence, never I participate in any fighting, never I support any terrorist group....everybody knew I did nothing to be one day in the jail for. And I did not come to this country to be in the jail. I came to be free. I did not come to this country to destroy (it). I came to be my life. I (didn't) threaten any human being....I came for my children to be safe from terrorist....I believe what's done for me it is unfair and I believe, (your) Honor, it is your duty to make sure that justice has been served."
The prosecution asked for 30 years. The Court imposed 15. After the convictions, the Muslim Solidarity Committee (MSC) was formed to support Aref, Hossain and their families. It collected letters and around 1000 petition signatures asking the Court for leniency. It also held vigils twice weekly between conviction and sentencing and raised funds to support the two families. IMC members were traumatized by the verdict and knew it could happen to them. Others in the community were also outraged because Aref was innocent and was targeted for political reasons. They united with a committed goal - to exonerate Aref and Hossain, get all charges against them dropped, and protect their families from further harm.
For now, however, Aref remains a victim of US justice. After sentencing, he endured a punishing 43 day odyssey that took him to Terre Haute, Indiana federal prison. But first he was sent to federal facilities in Massachusetts, Brooklyn, Oklahoma City and the Ray Brook, New York Correctional Institution about which he recounted his first days:
They "placed (him) in the special housing unit (SHU) or, as they call it, the Hole. Even in that unit they placed (him) in a special cell. (He) was alone by (himself), the rest of the prisoners were in double cells. (His) cell was so small and had a concrete bed in the middle of it where there was no room to talk and a small window with frosted glass, one could not see outside. The unit was like a basement and it was a nasty and filthy place. (He) was shocked to see that!....(He) did not know why (he was there). (He) was thinking how the place was (and) asking (himself) - how can such a place exist in the United States?
....It was like a bad dream....(He) had no mail....no books to read....no commissary....no cellmate....not even a call to (his) attorney!!....(He believed) the reason (he was convicted was) that (he) is a Muslim (with) a beard, not because (he) did something wrong....(and because he doesn't) know English well....am from the Middle East and speak Arabic (and) am not a citizen. (He kept) thinking about the kind of victory (the government) achieved (that) separate(d) (him) from (his) four very young children....They knew in their hearts what they did to (him) was unfair, unjust. (How can what they did to him be) a victory in the justice system of this country."
After Ray Brook, Aref was sent to the secret Terre Haute, Indiana federal penitentiary Communications Management Unit (CMU) that opened in December 2006. It's for "high-security risk" Muslim and Middle Eastern prisoners to limit or cut them off entirely from outside contact. Doing so, however, violates the May 3, 2004 US Supreme Court decision in Johnson v. California which held that segregating prisoners by race, ethnicity or language is illegal. In addition, Prison Bureau regulations stipulate that "staff shall not discriminate against inmates on the basis of race, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or political belief (including) administrative decisions (involving) access to work, housing and programs." Further, the Federal Administrative Procedures Act explicitly requires all prison regulations comply with this law.
At great personal risk, Aref described his CMU life in an October 2007 article titled "Dead Life - Inside out and upside down: Life at the 'Communication Management Unit' of Terre Haute Federal Prison." When he wrote it, his English had improved, and it was painful to read. He said Terre Haute is geared toward revenge, to hurt for the sake of hurting. There's no pretense of rehabilitation, no thought of protecting society from harm. The place is a playground for thugs who like to make people suffer. CMU inmates are "lock(ed) down in this old leaky building and prohibit(ed) from hugging our children and calling them often....(This) will never bring peace to this country, and will never make this nation safer. But it is really putting the justice system in this country on trial."
I am a 72 year old, retired, progressive small businessman concerned about all the major national and world issues, committed to speak out and write about them.
The U.S. is perilously close to being a lawless state. When will the first foreign country refuse to extradite individuals based on this inability to guarantee a fair trial? Will that finally open up everyone's eyes or will the common retort be "they hate us because of our freedoms". Such garbage, when will Americans grow up? We don't live on an island you know. We do have to interact with "others". Why can't we just let justice not only be done but be seen to be done?
by
Archie (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 966 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 10:34:04 AM
Aref's situation differs only in context from that of hundreds of thousands of other Americans who are incarcerated in a society that has perfected incarceration to the point it is torture per se. Those Americans, who have suffered under the Rhenquist Court's vast expansion of police powers, know that the Patriot Act has taken nothing that was not already missing. From making roadblock spot check searches to making failure to give consent to search a ground for further search, among many other pro-state rulings, the Rhenquist Court long ago took away the Fourth Amendment Right to be free of unreasonable search and seizures.
Only on television and in the movies, does a trial court suppress evidence, with rare exceptions. Much better, considers the elected trial judge, to allow the evidence in, and make the appellate court deal with the issue later. But, of course, appellate courts almost never overrule the discretion of a trial court.
There are now approximately three million Americans in some kind of prison facility nation-wide. That is one in every one hundred Americans. But if you break that number down to adults, say 20-50, and male, the number is by my guess more like one in every twenty-five. Hence, approximately one in every twenty-five American males has been and is living in tortuous conditions--subject to rape at any time, HIV infection, spontaeous violence, forced segregation, arbitrary isolation, overcrowding, and guard brutality.
And most of these Americans either committed non-violent offenses, victimless crimes, or are innocent of the crime for which they were convicted. Long before they came for the Muslims, they were already coming for us.
by
W.M.L. (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 281 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 6:00:56 PM
