http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=8858885 Rights group to appeal judge's ruling against Muslim scholar barred from entered US
The Associated Press Friday, December 21, 2007 NEW YORK: A civil liberties group said it will appeal a U.S. judge's ruling that upheld the federal government's decision to deny entry to a prominent Europe-based Muslim , a move that promises to extend a legal battle U.S. officials have cast as part of the fight against terror. The American Civil Liberties Union had sued the government on behalf Tariq Ramadan, a Swiss citizen and visiting fellow in Oxford, England, arguing that U.S. officials excluded Ramadan from the country because of his opposition to the Iraq war and other sympathies. U.S. officials, however, said Ramadan donated money to a Muslim group that aided terrorism and that those contributions were sufficient grounds to keep the noted scholar out of the U.S. On Thursday, a federal judge sided with the government, ruling that federal authorities had shown their decision was based on legitimate reasons and, as such, had not violated the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty in Manhattan said the law requires Ramadan to provide "clear and convincing evidence" that he lacked knowledge of what U.S. authorities say are the group's illicit activities. Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU's National Security Project, said Ramadan "is being excluded not because of his actions, but because of his ideas, and that the group would appeal the ruling. "The result is that foreign scholars will continue to be barred from the country simply because they have said things that the Bush administration disagrees with, and that is a very sad thing," Jaffer said. There was no immediate comment from government lawyers. Ramadan, who has spoken at Harvard and Stanford universities in the U.S., has opposed the U.S. invasion of Iraq and said he sympathizes with the resistance there and in the Palestinian territories. He also has said he has no connections to terrorism, opposes Islamic extremism and promotes peaceful solutions. On Sept. 16, 2005, Ramadan requested a nonimmigrant visa that would permit him to attend speaking engagements. His earlier visa had been revoked in August 2004. The following September, Ramadan was excluded from the country on the grounds that he aided a terrorist group by making charitable contributions from 1998 to 2002. Ramadan has said he never intended to assist terrorism when he made $1,336 in contributions to the Association de Secours Palestinien. The U.S. government says the group has provided funds to Hamas, which the government has designated a foreign terrorist organization. The United States outlawed contributions to the group in 2003. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[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/
