The government’s ceaseless persecution of Dr. Sami Al-Arian would be comical if it were not so disgustingly vacuous and damaging to him, his family and the Arab-American and Muslim communities. A lone ranger prosecutor has been playing dirty with Dr. Al-Arian’s life all in order to save face after a disastrous failure to prosecute the former professor at the University of South Florida.

The word Kafkaesque comes to mind. But for Dr. Al-Arian’s persecution, I would add a little Alice in Wonderland to make the literary analogy more apt.

As a case that effectively got its wind from Bill O’Reilly’s boneheaded show on Fox, it has proven as legitimate and substantive as the immoral “war on terror” legal changes that enabled it.

After being tried in a state where both US Senatorial campaigns used affiliations with the defendant as political slings, the government could not secure a conviction on any of the 17 counts. While jury acquitted him on 8 of the 17 counts, it was deadlocked on 9. To avoid re-trial and be immediately deported, Dr. Al-Arian signed a plea agreement accepting culpability for the smallest charges.

The prosecutors went against the agreement by trying to force Dr. Al-Arian’s testimony on completely unrelated cases, an old trick used by the government against the mafia.

The latest legal round represents the government’s desperate efforts to try him for criminal contempt. His crime was believing the plea agreement to be binding and the government to be willing to uphold its end of the bargain. Of course it did not. It preferred to waste taxpayers in money.

According to federal court briefs filed on Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg restated his request for the judge to overturn her order compelling prosecutors to turn over evidence regarding the 2006 plea negotiations. This marks the third time that the government has defied the court’s order, signaling a desperate move to avoid revealing the facts in the 2006 plea negotiations.

Why is the government so afraid of the facts? I can only imagine because they entirely invalidate what little ability it has left to unjustifiably torture Dr. Al-Arian and his family.

I only hope that after Dr. Al-Arian is finally free, that there can be some professional review of the conduct of this clearly zealous and ethically questionable prosecution. There must be a protection against government prosecutors avoiding professional disgrace by engaging in perpetual hunts of defendants they fail to convict. From here, it looks like a reckless violation of due process, but this deserves closer scrutiny and investigation.

I know the Obama administration should not ideally follow the Bush administration’s footsteps in pressuring prosecutors, but I would like to think some political higher-ups recognize how embarrassing this case is for the government. Can’t they tug or better yet yank Kromberg’s leash.

For more information about the latest developments.

If you are located near Washington, DC and want to support Dr. Al-Arian:

There will be a hearing in the case on Monday, March 9th at 11 a.m. sharp at the Alexandria Federal Courthouse.

Albert V. Bryan U.S. Courthouse
401 Courthouse Square
Alexandria, VA 22314

All supporters and people of conscience are encouraged to attend. The judge is expected to rule on this crucial issue for a third time and set a new trial date.

Related posts:

1. DC Premiere: The United States’ Persecution of Dr. Sami Al-Arian
2. Dr. Sami Al-Arian Collapses from Hunger Strike
3. BREAKING: Sami Al-Arian Released on Bond
4. Sami Al-Arian’s Nightmare Continues
5. Hunger Strike for Dr. Sami Al-Arian