My thoughts on politics, foreign policy, sports, America, and anything else I come up with.

 
Free Mike Hawash!

From Warblogging:

Twelve days ago (3/20/03) Maher (Mike) Hawash, an American citizen, was "detained" as a "material witness" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Joint Terrorism Task Force near his car at Intel Corporation's Hawthorne Farms parking lot. Even as FBI agents slapped the handcuffs on Mr. Hawash more agents in full battle gear carrying assault rifles woke Mr. Hawash's wife, Lisa, and their three children. The FBI agents then proceeded to search their home.

Since that Thursday Mike Hawash has been held at a federal prison in Sheridan, Oregon.

Mike has not been charged with a crime and all of the evidence used against him has been sealed by a federal court at the request of the Department of Justice. He will not be judged by a jury of his peers. He as not even been accused of doing anything wrong. He is being detained based on a twisted application of the material wtiness statute, which was originally intended for use to prevent witnesses to a crime from fleeing to avoid testifying in court.

Mr. Hawash worked as a software designer at Intel Corporation. He coauthored a book on multimedia programming for the Intel platform. His former boss, a former Vice President at Intel, mantains Free Mike Hawash, a Web site devoted to informing people of Mike's plight.

The Department of Justice refuses even to say that anyone was arrested in the raids conducted eleven days ago. They refuse to say anything, in fact, about Mr. Hawash except that there is an "ongoing investigation".

So far all we know — all that anyone knows, it would seem — is that Mike Hawash made some donations to the Global Relief Foundation, an organisation that has been shut down by the US Treasury Department for supporting terrorism. One of Global Relief's founders is in federal custody in Michigan after a judge ruled he was "an associate of terrorists."

Mike apparently made two donations to Global Relief Foundation, both for about $5,000. As a consultant to Intel Corporation he could presumably afford it. "The organization is legit," he said. "We believed that they are doing good work. It's a well-known organization," Mike had said about his donations.

Mr. Hawash is now being held without charge by the United States Government. They haven't even bothered to accuse him of a crime. Call your senator, call your congrsesman. Tell them that this will not stand. Tell them that it is unacceptable that the United States would treat its citizens like this. Tell them that they should do one of the following:

• Charge Mr. Hawash with a crime,



• Have Mr. Hawash testify in court as a material witness as quickly as possible, or



• Release Mr. Hawash.

The Department of Justice has publicly said that it is using material witness warrants to hold people it suspects of being terrorists when it cannot gather enough evidence for an indictment. Such abuses are un-American.

Mike Hawash is one of us. He is an American who just happens to be Muslim and of Middle Eastern descent. The authorities have in no way proved that Mr. Hawash has committed any crime or that he is a flight risk. They have, by all appearances, simply snatched him up and put him in jail.

Posted by Brian Adams at 11:59 | Permalink | |