Judge Refuses Bail for Professor Charged in Terror Case

A Palestinian professor will remain jailed without bond until his trial on charges that he led a terrorist organization’s U.S. operations and helped its members enter the country, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

Sami Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida computer engineering professor, and co-defendant Sameeh Hammoudeh must remain jailed because each poses a danger and a flight risk, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark A. Pizzo ruled.

“These two, based on the government’s strong presentation, repeatedly assisted, promoted, or managed the [Palestinian Islamic Jihad], an organization which indiscriminately murders to achieve its goals,” Pizzo wrote.

Pizzo granted bail for two other co-defendants, setting Ghassan Zayed Ballut’s at $620,000 and Hatim Naji Fariz’s at $1.1 million.

“To me, this is a very dark era we are living in,” said Al-Arian’s wife, Nahla. “Muslims are being persecuted in every way.”

Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said the government was reviewing the judge’s order. He declined to comment further.

Attorneys for Al-Arian and Hammoudeh said they would appeal.

“It’s interesting that the U.S. citizens got some sort of relief conditions, and those here legally, but not citizens, were ordered to be detained,” said Al-Arian’s attorney, Jeffrey Brown.

The defendants and four co-conspirators living abroad were indicted Feb. 20 on racketeering, conspiracy and other charges.

Prosecutors say that Al-Arian ran the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s U.S. operations and that the other three men living in the United States worked for him. The government says the group is responsible for 100 murders in Israel and its territories.

Al-Arian has said that he has never advocated violence.

Pizzo wrote that the defendants all “publicly preach and practice” nonviolent ideals, and that Al-Arian’s civic record “is particularly outstanding.” But he added that those public actions were at odds with intercepted conversations in which Al-Arian and Hammoudeh promoted violence.

“This dichotomy ... reveals much about their character and the tenacity of their commitment to a pattern of deception toward achieving the PIJ’s goals,” Pizzo wrote.

A not guilty plea was entered on Al-Arian’s behalf last week. Ballut, Hammoudeh and Fariz have pleaded not guilty.

Even if Al-Arian and Hammoudeh had been granted bail, federal immigration officials would have placed them in detention.

Although Al-Arian, 45, a Palestinian born in Kuwait, and Hammoudeh, 42, born in the West Bank, are not American citizens, they are permanent U.S. residents.

Prosecutors say Al-Arian brought Islamic Jihad members to the United States under the guise of attending academic conferences. The University of South Florida dismissed him days after his arrest.