 |
Add to My Group
Denial of Due Process to Muslims Disgraces Us All
By Katherine Hughes, Posted by Stephen Lendman (about the submitter) Page 4 of 6 page(s)
36 It is estimated that the prosecution cost of Sami Al-Arian's case is somewhere in the region of $80 million: http://www.freesamialarian.com/home.htm
37 See A. Arnove, "Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War,"? South End Press, 2002 and R. Clark, "The Impact of Sanctions on Iraq: The Children Are Dying,"? a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. World View Forum, Inc. 1996.
38 At trial the defense showed that a 1990 New York Times article had mentioned humanitarian exception to the sanctions. Susan Hutner of the Office of Foreign Assets Control said in her testimony that mosques and Iraqis were not targeted for education about the sanctions, although she personally gave lectures to members of the oil and banking industries. From this author's witness of the proceedings. (Hereafter, Hughes Witness.)
39 See Kristen Hinman, "The Iraqi Doctor: Patients Revere Him, the Government Wants to Put Him Away:"? http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/801mag/2004/801_IRAQIDR.pdf Hinman's grandmother was a patient of Dhafir.
40 This was part of a government operation ahead of the Iraq war. Code named "Imminent Horizon,"? its stated purpose was to "disrupt and rattle"? potential terrorist operations ahead of the invasion of Iraq. Reported by ABC news March 5, 2003, see newshttp://www.jubileeinitiative.org/DhafirOperationImminentHorizon.htm
41 Hughes Witness. A detailed description of the arrests can be found in court transcripts.
42 See R. Gadoua, "Up to 150 Questioned; Doctor Is Denied Bail; Muslims Afraid to Speak Out Publicly,"? The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), March 1, 2003, available here: http://www.freedhafir.org/ and McGraw Video
43 The ACLU-CNY expressed concerns about how the interrogations had been handled among other questions, families were asked how often they prayed and whether they celebrated Christmas: http://www.cnyclu.org/. At one meeting I attended, a man recounted that the government had gone back 20 years in his bank records because he had donated $150 to HTN.
44 See the government press release from that day: http://www.dhafirtrial.net/court-documents/indictment-from-arrest/
45 Dr. Dhafir's sentencing statement: http://www.dhafirtrial.net/about-dr-dhafir/dhafir-sentencing-statement/, p. 36.
46 Hughes Witness.
47 Hughes Witness.
48 Hughes Witness. Fuller descriptions of the arrests of Jarwan and Al-Wahaidy are available in court transcripts.
49 The whole Medicare part of the case, 25 counts, revolved around the "incident to"? rule, which decided how billing should be handled "incident to"? the doctor's treatment. For coverage of this part of the trial see, Katherine Hughes, "Dr. Dhafir's trial concluded today, Wednesday, January 26, 2005:"? click here
50 Other defendants in the case include William Hatfield, Dhafir's accountant and Ahmed Yusef Ali, head of Somali Relief Network, the charity that had shared its tax-exempt status with HTN. On the day of the arrests government agents went to Hatfield's office in Oneida, New York, blocked the street at both ends and entered the office where he and his secretary worked. He was told that it would be better for him if he did not call a lawyer but cooperated with government agents. Hatfield accepted a plea agreement, pleading guilty to helping Dhafir file a false statement to the IRS; he received 2 years probation, a $15,000 fine, and 150 hours community service.
Ahmed Ali accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to impeding IRS collection; he received 2 years probation and a $10,000 fine. Two others arrested on the morning of February 26, 2003 are former HTN associate, Walid Smari, of Idaho, and Danya Wellmon, Dhafir's laboratory technician at his medical practice. Both accepted immunity in exchange for their testimony at Dhafir's trial. Jean Karp, a former Catholic nun and Dhafir's nurse for many years, had left Dhafir's practice to start a free clinic for the poor. She was grandfathered into a new Medicare program and received her own Medicare number that meant she could bill Medicare directly. She was not charged with any crime by the government, but when Dhafir was arrested her Medicare number was taken from her; as a consequence the free clinic closed. She had no idea why it had been taken and it had not been reinstated when she testified at Dhafir's trial.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
 Contact Editor |
$130.00
Lowest New Price $126.00
Number of pages: 278
Publisher: Ashgate Pub Ltd
by Morten B. Pedersen
$75.00
Lowest New Price $58.37
Number of pages: 312
Publisher: Rowman
by Peter Lewis
$11.95
Lowest New Price $4.44
Number of pages: 152
Publisher: Century Foundation Press
by Francis Njubi Nesbitt
$39.95
Lowest New Price $35.93
Number of pages: 232
Publisher: Indiana University Press
| 1 comments |
Want to post your own comment on this Article? 
|
||||
|
||||||||||||||
Must Read (0) 
Well Said (0) 
News (0) 
Touching (0) 
Funny (0) 
Supported (0) 
Interesting (0) 
Inspiring (0) 
Valuable (0) Tell a Friend:
|
Copyright © 2002-2009, OpEdNews |
