Update on Federal US Attorneys Office.
Carlos Montes
www.centrocso.org
www.facebook.com/centrocso
Activist's materials not yet returned - U.S. Atty's office cites "ongoing
investigation" of anti-war and international solidarity activists.
Is this email not
displaying correctly?
View it in your browser.
Important Update:
Barry Jonas, of Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office, refuses to return
materials from FBI raid
Cites ongoing investigation of anti-war and international solidarity
activists
In late July 2012, Northern Illinois Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas
refused to return much of the material seized in the FBI raid on the home of
Hatem Abudayyeh, citing the ongoing “material support for terrorism”
investigation that is underway against anti-war, Palestinian and international
solidarity activists.
Barry Jonas is well known for participating in one of the worst violations of
civil liberties in the past decade. He played a leading role in prosecuting the
leaders of the United Holy Land Foundation while he was trial attorney for the
Department of Justice Counter-terrorism Section.
Michael Deutsch, Abudayyeh's lawyer, who has a long history of fighting
government repression, stated, "The continuing investigation after almost two
years is grossly unjust and an effort by the Obama administration to silence
those who speak and organize against U.S. policies at home and around the
world."
The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office has told lawyers representing the anti-war
and international solidarity activists that they are preparing “multiple
indictments of multiple people.” Barry Jonas’ refusal to return Abudayyeh’s
papers is the latest confirmation that the investigation has not ended and that
the Justice Department is continuing its vendetta against those who are working
for peace with justice. This needs to be taken seriously. In a number of
“material support of terrorism” cases, there has been a gap of one to three or
more years between the FBI raids and indictments.
In September of 2010, more than 70 FBI agents took part in a series of
coordinated raids on the homes of well-known anti-war, labor and international
solidarity activists, along with the office of the Twin Cities based Anti-War
Committee. A total of 23 activists, including Abudayyeh, were subpoenaed to a
Chicago grand jury. All of them refused to testify in the secret proceedings.
Most of the activists targeted in this case, including Abudayyeh, helped
organize the massive protest at the 2008 Republican National Convention in
Saint Paul, Minnesota. At that time, an undercover law enforcement officer,
going by the name of “Karen Sullivan,” infiltrated the protest efforts and
stuck around to spy and lie about many of the 23 activists.
That Barry Jonas is now the lead prosecutor for the international solidarity
activists is troubling. Jonas is a pro-Israel ideologue whose work in
prosecuting the Holy Land case exposed his politically motivated willingness to
trample on the rights of accused Palestinians. As the lead prosecutor in the
Holy Land case, Jonas used secret witnesses (the defense never got to find out
who the witnesses were), hearsay evidence and the introduction of evidence that
had nothing to do with the defendants in the case - such as showing a video
from Palestine of protesters burning an American flag - as a means to prejudice
the jury. The result was that five men, who did nothing wrong, are sitting in
prison with sentences that range between 15 and 65 years.
With each passing day, the U.S. is becoming a more repressive place. Hundreds
of Arabs and Muslims have and are facing unjust prosecutions, or have already
been put behind bars. Also, a grand jury is threatening political activists in
the Northwest; criminal proceedings are taking place against NATO protesters in
Chicago; and the Occupy movement has faced a wave of police violence.
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression urges all our supporters to sign the
pledge to take action now,
(http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/pledge-of-resistance) to be ready in the
event that international solidarity activists are indicted. We recently won a
victory when we defeated the frame-up against veteran Chicano leader Carlos
Montes. We need to do everything in our power to push back against these
attacks on our right to protest, organize and speak out for justice. Together
we will win!
follow on
Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright © 2012 Committee to
Stop FBI Repression, All rights reserved.
Thanks for your ongoing
interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international
solidarity activists!
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Add us to your address book
Carlos Montes
www.centrocso.org
www.facebook.com/centrocso
Activist's materials not yet returned - U.S. Atty's office cites "ongoing
investigation" of anti-war and international solidarity activists.
Is this email not
displaying correctly?
View it in your browser.
Important Update:
Barry Jonas, of Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office, refuses to return
materials from FBI raid
Cites ongoing investigation of anti-war and international solidarity
activists
In late July 2012, Northern Illinois Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas
refused to return much of the material seized in the FBI raid on the home of
Hatem Abudayyeh, citing the ongoing “material support for terrorism”
investigation that is underway against anti-war, Palestinian and international
solidarity activists.
Barry Jonas is well known for participating in one of the worst violations of
civil liberties in the past decade. He played a leading role in prosecuting the
leaders of the United Holy Land Foundation while he was trial attorney for the
Department of Justice Counter-terrorism Section.
Michael Deutsch, Abudayyeh's lawyer, who has a long history of fighting
government repression, stated, "The continuing investigation after almost two
years is grossly unjust and an effort by the Obama administration to silence
those who speak and organize against U.S. policies at home and around the
world."
The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office has told lawyers representing the anti-war
and international solidarity activists that they are preparing “multiple
indictments of multiple people.” Barry Jonas’ refusal to return Abudayyeh’s
papers is the latest confirmation that the investigation has not ended and that
the Justice Department is continuing its vendetta against those who are working
for peace with justice. This needs to be taken seriously. In a number of
“material support of terrorism” cases, there has been a gap of one to three or
more years between the FBI raids and indictments.
In September of 2010, more than 70 FBI agents took part in a series of
coordinated raids on the homes of well-known anti-war, labor and international
solidarity activists, along with the office of the Twin Cities based Anti-War
Committee. A total of 23 activists, including Abudayyeh, were subpoenaed to a
Chicago grand jury. All of them refused to testify in the secret proceedings.
Most of the activists targeted in this case, including Abudayyeh, helped
organize the massive protest at the 2008 Republican National Convention in
Saint Paul, Minnesota. At that time, an undercover law enforcement officer,
going by the name of “Karen Sullivan,” infiltrated the protest efforts and
stuck around to spy and lie about many of the 23 activists.
That Barry Jonas is now the lead prosecutor for the international solidarity
activists is troubling. Jonas is a pro-Israel ideologue whose work in
prosecuting the Holy Land case exposed his politically motivated willingness to
trample on the rights of accused Palestinians. As the lead prosecutor in the
Holy Land case, Jonas used secret witnesses (the defense never got to find out
who the witnesses were), hearsay evidence and the introduction of evidence that
had nothing to do with the defendants in the case - such as showing a video
from Palestine of protesters burning an American flag - as a means to prejudice
the jury. The result was that five men, who did nothing wrong, are sitting in
prison with sentences that range between 15 and 65 years.
With each passing day, the U.S. is becoming a more repressive place. Hundreds
of Arabs and Muslims have and are facing unjust prosecutions, or have already
been put behind bars. Also, a grand jury is threatening political activists in
the Northwest; criminal proceedings are taking place against NATO protesters in
Chicago; and the Occupy movement has faced a wave of police violence.
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression urges all our supporters to sign the
pledge to take action now,
(http://www.stopfbi.net/get-involved/pledge-of-resistance) to be ready in the
event that international solidarity activists are indicted. We recently won a
victory when we defeated the frame-up against veteran Chicano leader Carlos
Montes. We need to do everything in our power to push back against these
attacks on our right to protest, organize and speak out for justice. Together
we will win!
follow on
Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright © 2012 Committee to
Stop FBI Repression, All rights reserved.
Thanks for your ongoing
interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international
solidarity activists!
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Add us to your address book
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LAAMN: Los Angeles Alternative Media Network
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unsubscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subscribe: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Digest: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Help: <mailto:[email protected]?subject=laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Post: <mailto:[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive1: <http://www.egroups.com/messages/laamn>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Archive2: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/laamn/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
[email protected]
[email protected]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
