From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ed Felien
Dear Friends,
I have been out of town for the last few weeks. I was sorry to see on my return that some of my friends have had so little to do in my absence they have spent great energy speculating about my character (or lack thereof).
The hideous blemish on my reputation seems to be a result of my association with Basim Sabri. Mr. Sabri is alleged to have tried to influence a City Council Member. Federal prosecutors indicted him in District Court. The indictment was dismissed by the judge. An appeal by the prosecution to the Court of Appeals reinstated the indictment, and, now, that decision has been appealed by the defense to the United States Supreme Court.
But, of course, Mr. Sabri is guilty until proven innocent.
[And much more interesting text snipped.]
I'm one of those people who at present do not like Basim Sabri. However, it has nothing to do with his being Palestinian or being an aggressive businessman. His recent business successes are items for me to consider in changing my opinion about him, yes. They are also items that I might consider to be payments for his debts to society, for the bad things he has done in the past.
My low opinion of him comes from having friends who were his neighbors and were neighbors of properties he owned. He was the most antagonistic, arrogant, difficult, nasty, mean and troublesome "neighbor" just about everyone in my social circle at that time had ever encountered. That his name has been splashed in the press a number of times since for unsavory deeds, even if legal, just confirmed his "low" character. According to the newspaper, he doesn't even seem to be able to get along with members of his own family without resorting to fisticuffs and lawsuits. Yikes.
As for the indictment being dismissed, then appealed and reinstated and now appealed again, my understanding from newspaper articles was that the original dismissal, and in fact Sabri's lawyer's entire argument against the charges is not so much based on lack of guilt, but on legal technicalities about things like jurisdiction! That kind of defense hardly gives one a warm feeling of actual innocence on his part.
Of course, I could be wrong. The prosecutors could be wrong. Sabri could also be a reformed man since he terroized my friends in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
And if he does save the Sears building and turn it into a thriving business -- well, then, I'll consider him indeed to be reformed and better, a man to be praised and respected!
But he has yet to earn that respect. Right now, I don't feel his business success along Lake Street has absolved him of his sins.
I don't know Mr. Felien from Adam. What I read here from him makes him sound like he has his heart in the right place. Hopefully his association with Sabri will not be bad thing.
Chris Johnson Fulton
TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.)
________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
