خا دمة الدعوة
جعل الله ذلك في ميزان حسناتك
وفقك الله لنصرة المظلوم
الصفحة الأخيرة
MSA Figure Seized By FBI
By Paul Barrett
Wall Street Journal | May 29, 2003
In the days after Sept. 11, 2001, Sami Omar al-Hussayen led fellow Muslims as they joined an emotion-charged candlelight march remembering the dead. The Saudi graduate student in computer science at the University of Idaho helped organize a blood drive for victims. He issued a press release on behalf of the Muslim Students Association, stating that the small town of Moscow's Muslims "condemn in the strongest terms possible what are apparently vicious acts of terrorism against innocent citizens."
That's why people in this rural university town were so surprised on Feb. 26, when Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived before dawn in unmarked vehicles at Mr. Hussayen's home to arrest him. The agents rousted him from bed and took him away in handcuffs. Over the next two days, most members of the campus MSA, which Mr. Hussayen formerly headed, were interrogated about their immigration status, extracurricular activities and views of the U.S…
Mr. Hussayen, 33 years old, is being held in jail without an opportunity to post bail. Through his lawyer, David Z. Nevin, he has denied any wrongdoing. "Sami does not hold terrorist views," says Mr. Nevin. "He believes that violence is inconsistent with the tenets of Islam."…
Mr. Hussayen, who is tall and wears a full beard, arrived in Idaho in 1999 to work on a doctorate in computer security. The son of a senior Saudi education-ministry official, he grew up with six siblings in a comfortable home in Riyadh.
As boys, he and an older brother traveled to Britain to polish their English. On two trips with their father to the U.S., they toured Washington, Universal Studios and Disney World. In the mid-1990s, Mr. Hussayen earned a master's degree at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., and also studied at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
In Moscow, near the Washington state border and surrounded by verdant farms and pastures, Mr. Hussayen and his wife, Maha, lived modestly in married-student housing. He drove a 1992 Pontiac Bonneville, according to court records.…
Mr. Hussayen soon became the leader of the university's Muslim Students Association, which has about 50 members, including Saudis, Pakistanis and Kuwaitis. Many in the group were impressed by Mr. Hussayen's grasp of religion and his kindness, says Marwan Mossaad, a 25-year-old Egyptian immigrant studying architecture and economics, who has permanent-resident status in the U.S.
The small Muslim community in Moscow has no formal imam, or religious leader, and Mr. Hussayen often led Friday prayers at the Islamic Center, a small two-story house near campus. In talks at the mosque, Mr. Hussayen would sometimes "include some politics," such as criticism of Israel and the U.S. policy toward Iraq, says Mr. Mossaad. "But it was more about religion itself and fasting and things like that."…
Still, Mr. Hussayen appeared at ease with many aspects of American life. The eldest two of his three young sons have gone to public school and played on soccer teams. They have skateboards and speak better English than Arabic, according to Mr. Hussayen's brother, Abdul, a 34-year-old cardiologist in Toronto. "Their culture has been the culture of the United States kids," he said in court testimony in March. He recalled that he and Sami had joked about how hard it would be to go back to Saudi Arabia, because they both enjoyed living in the West.
The Saudi government paid Mr. Hussayen's educational expenses, plus a $2,700 monthly stipend. It is now paying his legal expenses, says Nail al-Jubeir, spokesman for the Saudi Embassy. He says that his government financially supports roughly 3,500 Saudi students at U.S. colleges and universities. The Saudi government doesn't directly support the MSA, Mr. Jubeir says. But Saudi government-backed charities and individual Saudis, many of whom went to American universities or are parents of students in the U.S., have given money to Muslim campus groups since they began in the U.S. 40 years ago. And Saudi Arabia annually provides scholarships to hundreds of Americans to go to the Persian Gulf kingdom to study Islamic law and Arabic.
As one of three student members on a campus ethnic-diversity committee, Mr. Hussayen impressed the chairman, Raul Sanchez, a university administrator, as open-minded and mature. "I very much hope he comes back to the university and finishes his education," Mr. Sanchez said at the March court hearing in Boise….
At the court hearing in March, Mr. Nevin, Mr. Hussayen's lawyer, pointed out that his client didn't conceal his activities. The six bank accounts he allegedly used to channel money to IANA were in his own name. He openly registered as the group's agent. Terrorists don't operate that way, the lawyer argued.
As for his client's alleged role in helping set up Web sites, Mr. Nevin compared Mr. Hussayen with the operator of an online "chat room." Site administrators don't always endorse the views expressed by users, he noted, and offensive opinions are protected by the First Amendment. "Sami believes the resolution of these problems is in the marketplace of ideas and by intellect, not violence," Mr. Nevin says in an interview.
In Moscow, some Muslim students say they don't see why engaging in the activities their friend is accused of would violate the law. They note that Muslim students from abroad are attracted to the U.S. precisely because they want to enjoy its freedom of expression. If Mr. Hussayen raised money for a Saudi-backed nonprofit devoted to spreading Islam, his friends say, they applaud him….
To President Bush....
August 26, 2003
Dear President Bush,
I am a caring mother, a loving wife, and a devout Muslim. I write to appeal to you as a father, son, a Christian, a caring human being, and the political leader of this great country, the United States of America.
I am the wife of Sami Omar al-Hussayen, who on the eve of completing his doctoral studies in computer science at the University of Idaho, was arrested on February 26, 2003, and charged with violating his student visa and making false statements. On that date, Sami, a caring father, a loving husband, and also a devout Muslim, was abruptly removed from my life and the lives of his three children. Our children Mohannad (age 9), Tamim (age 6 ), and Ziad (age 3, and a United States citizen), miss their father terribly. They cannot understand why their father has been taken from their lives.
Sami is not guilty of the charges against him or the connections to terrorism that prosecutors have claimed. At this point, I do not write you to ask that you absolve Sami of the charges he faces. I know it is the job of the courts to determine my husband's innocence. I have confidence that the truth will be revealed, and Sami's honorable name shall be cleared of all wrongdoing.
Instead, I write to implore you to allow Sami to come home to his children until the courts can do their job. After a bond hearing in March, Federal Magistrate Michael Williams, in Boise, Idaho, determined that Sami is not a danger to his community or likely to flee prosecution. He ordered that Sami be released to his family on home monitor until the criminal charges against him were resolved. My joy and that of my children was short lived, because the immigration authorities immediately ordered Sami detained on virtually the same charges.
I understand that the immigration authorities may be acting according to the law, but their decision to keep Sami detained after Magistrate Williams had ordered him released seems so unfair. Magistrate Williams seems like a fair and honorable man who weighed all the facts. Why do the immigration authorities not respect his judgment? Why must Sami continue to spend weeks and months away from his family? It is so difficult for me to explain this situation to my young children.
President Bush, I beseech you to intercede on Sami's behalf. Please contact your immigration authorities, and explain to them that Magistrate Williams in Boise was correct in his judgment of Sami. He is not a dangerous man, and will wait at home peacefully until the courts can do their job.
I have heard you speak on several occasions. I believe you to be a kind and fair man, like all good Christians and Muslims. I have heard you warn about the need to be vigilant that no one in this country discriminates against Muslims and Arabs. We are not all guilty of terrorism or other wrongdoing. Today, Sami remains an innocent man, and should be treated like an innocent man. I beg you to allow this innocent man to return to his children and wife, who miss him terribly, until the courts can do their job.
I am respectfully yours,
Maha al-Hussayen
How to Help...
Thank you for your concern, actualy you can do lots of things to help. Here are some ways:
1) Write about Sami to U of I officers, Idaho politicians as well as Attorney General, and Secretary of State (contact info below).
2) Contact human rights organization and request an action to ease Sami’s suffering.
3) You can send a support messages to Sami through this URL: http://www.samiomar.com.
In addition, if you are a student at University of Idaho, you can:
4) Discuss Sami’s case with friends and professors.
5) Organize a peace rally and remind fellow vandals about Sami’s ordeal.
6) U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is to speak at UI. Plan to attend and pose questions about Sami’s case.
Contact information:
* Brian Passey, Editor in Chief of the Argonaut argonaut@sub.uidaho.edu
* Office of Diversity and Human Rights at U of I diversity@uidaho.edu
* Human Rights Watch hrwsf@hrw.org
* Amnesty International admin-us@aiusa.org
* U of I Students Dean, Bruce Pitman bpitman@uidaho.edu
* U of I President, Gary Michael gmichael@uidaho.edu
* State of Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne can be reached via this link: http://www2.state.id.us/gov/ourgov/contact.htm
* US Attorney General AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
* US Secretary Powell can be contacted via this link: http://contact-us.state.gov/ask_form_cat/ask_form_secretary.html
Thank you for your support!