A MOMENT OF HOPE

For several years, the Center has supported  Muhammed Salah who was charged with terrorism,
based upon a confession extracted by torture in an Israeli jail. The case against Mr. Salah, and his
codefendent Abdelhaleem Ashqar, was deemed so significant that the indictments were announced in a
news conference by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft in 2004. Thankfully, on Feb. 1, 2007, a
federal jury in Chicago acquitted the two of the most serious charges. This is a major setback for the
Bush administration’s efforts to demonize those who oppose its policies.

The judge’s rulings in at least two instances, however, set very negative precedents regarding due
process in future cases. First, the judge admitted Mr. Salah’s confession when he sided with the
prosecution claim that Salah was not tortured. Second, the judge allowed two Israeli agents to act as
witnesses using fictitious names. Thankfully, the jurors rejected this injustice.

Mr. Salah, 53, a former grocer who lives in suburban Chicago, and Ashqr, 48, a former Howard
University professor who lives in Springfield, Illinois, were convicted of lesser charges. Ashqar was
convicted of obstruction of justice and criminal contempt for refusing to testify in front of a grand jury,
while Salah was convicted of obstruction for providing false answers in a civil lawsuit.

Salah's attorney, Michael Deutsch, called the verdict "a tremendous victory" and said his client "may not
even go to prison at all....This rejects the idea we can criminalize someone for resisting an illegal
occupation in another country.”

ACTIONS
1. Be suspect when persons are called “terrorists”, a title which demonizes them most often without any
real proof.
2. Read the thoughtful statements below on the implications of this case.
3. Share and discuss this bulletin with your family, friends, coworkers and your faith community.

WORDS OF MARYAM SALAH

1. Do you know what my dear husband told me a few days after the verdict?
“Where else on God’s earth will you find a government that, after having spent more than a decade of
time and millions of dollars in resources on a case like this, will allow 112 of its ordinary citizens to have
the final say, and then respec their decision? This is a great country.”

This coming fro a man who’s had the prime of his life snatched away from him. Who’s seen the black
hairs on his head gray 20 years too soon. Who’s seen his own government label him a “specially
designated terrorist,” the only American, based on torture produced “confessions” from a foreign
government, and experienced relentless persecution and eventual prosecution by his own government
the United States of America. This is a great man.

And at the risk of breaking some stereotypes about Muslim women, and because this might be the only
chance that I will get to say this: “I love you, baby. I do.”

2. ...to those, thousands of mile away, who have brutally tortured my husband, the father of my five
children, I say to you, from my aching heart, but with all sincerity and from the depth of my soul, and
with every fiber of my being: “We want to live with your in peace, like we did many years ago, in one
country, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

THE MUHAMMAD SALAH BOTTOMLINE

(CHICAGO, IL 2/01/07) - For many years now, Mr. Muhammad Salah lived life in the infamy of
being labeled as the only designated US terrorist. He suffered the repercussions of this judgment, long
before he could face an open and fair trial in a US Court of law. His assets were frozen, and his life
shattered. His family carried the burden of this label to their schools, workplaces, and to the local
supermarket.

Today at the completion of an emotionally tolling trial on Mr. Salah and his family, the final verdict is
out.

Though, he was found guilty of obstructing justice, he was found not guilty of racketeering, which was
the major charge. The third charge of providing material support to a terrorist organization had been
dropped mid-trial.

And so, here's the final word: Mr. Muhammad Salah is neither a terrorist nor a criminal for having
supplied charitable aid to the most vulnerable factions of his occupied and war-ravaged country of
origin, Palestine; a jury of his peers understand that to be true.

Our justice system has affirmed what many in his family have long claimed, that Muhammad Salah, a
conscientious and upright family man and community member was only guilty of being a bold Palestinian
activist. His fate is one that befalls many of his kind. It is to my personal relief, that our justice system is
where the buck stops on the political persecution of the embattled Palestinian people.

My sense of pride in our court system, however, comes with reservation. Justice as we know it in
America involves more than just an endpoint, it involves the process of how to get there. And while the
verdict vindicates Salah and his name, the process, the trial, raises questions for those of us who are
concerned about the rule of law, and the sanctity of our constitutional rights.

As a civil rights organization, our aspiration is to see every American granted his or her full rights under
any and all circumstances.

Muhammad Salah's right to a fair trial was forgone when the court decided to accept statements he
made under torture. It is a cause for concern to the American people when a U.S. court endorses
foreign interrogation methods and detention practices that would be considered
illegal under U.S. law.

Mr. Salah was systematically tortured by the Israeli Secret Service and interrogated for 80 days. In
some countries, such brutality is typically used to break down the psychological condition of a suspect.
Because the manner in which the confession was extracted would be inadmissible
in the United States, it is repugnant to the public policy of American courts.

Muhammad Salah's 6th Amendment right to a public trial was also violated when the court ruled that
portions of the suppression hearings and trial would be closed to the public.

Also, Muhammad Salah's due process rights were violated when his assets were frozen before he could
have the opportunity to defend himself in a public trial.

We hope that the suffering of the Salah family is over. We also hope that the "terrorism" label be
reserved in the future for those found guilty of that charge in an open and fair trail administered in a
respected court of law.

Ahmed M. Rehab
Executive Director
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago)
28 East Jackson Boulevard, Suite 1410
Chicago, IL 60604
Tel: 312-212-1520
Fax: 312-212-1530
Cell: 847-971-3963
E-mail: director@cairchicago.org
Web: http://www.cairchicago.org