The National Council of Arab Americans (NCA) demands the immediate release of political prisoner, Dr. Sami Al-Arian. Dr. Al-Arian is currently under his 60th day of a water-only hunger strike in protest of his maltreatment by the US Department of Justice (DOJ). After an earlier plea agreement that absolved Dr. Al- Arian from any further questioning, he was sentenced up to 18 months in jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury in Virginia.
Dr. Al-Arian is currently being held at a medical facility in North Carolina. He is in critical condition, having lost 53 pounds, over 25% of his body weight. According to family members who recently visited him he is no longer able to walk or stand on his own.
More information on Dr. Al-Arian's ordeal can be found in the transcript of a recent interview with his wife, Nahla Al-Arian on Democracy Now.
ACTION:
We ask all people of conscience to demand the immediate release and end to Dr. Al- Arian's suffering.
Call, Email and Write:
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
Department of Justice
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530- 0001
Fax Number: (202) 307-6777
Email: AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
The Honorable John Conyers, Jr
2426 Rayburn Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5126
(202) 225-0072 Fax
John.Conyers@mail.house.gov
Senator Patrick Leahy
433 Russell Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202)224- 4242
senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov
Honorable Judge Gerald Lee
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
401 Courthouse Square, Alexandria, VA 22314
For background and more infomration please read
"The Persecution of Sami Al-Arian" by Alex Cockburn
