April 23, 2007

Political Prisoner Suffers Isolation while Doc Wows Toronto Audiences

The Norwegian documentary "USA vs Al-Arian" premiered Friday, April 20 at the HotDocs film festival in Toronto, eliciting moviegoers' outrage towards the US justice system and its treatment of the Al-Arian family. The film portrays an American Muslim family facing charges of terrorism through the trial of Sami Al-Arian.

Two of his adult children, Abdullah and Leena Al-Arian, attending the international premiere and the midnight reception Friday, were touched by the standing ovation from the audience. "We weren't sure how a North-American audience would react to the film, but the responses we got were overwhelmingly positive," Leena said. "At the reception after the film, we were approached by many people in the film industry who said they were appalled by the treatment of our father by the US government."

While his children traveled to the Toronto premiere of "USA vs Al-Arian," imprisoned Palestinian activist Sami Al-Arian has been on a special tour of his own. So far this year, he has been transferred from prison to prison nine times, four times in April alone. Al-Arian went through a six-month trial in which he was acquitted on the most serious charges. Although the jury voted 10-2 in favor of acquittal on the remaining counts, the government threatened a re-trial on those charges. In a 2006 agreement, Al-Arian plead guilty to one count of giving non-violent assistance to immigrants associated with an illegal organization and the government agreed to release him and allow him to leave the country. However, they have not honored this agreement.

Currently Al-Arian is held under severe conditions in a prison about 1,000 miles away from his family, making it extremely hard for them to keep in touch with him. Al-Arian recently went through a 60-day hunger strike to protest the government's treatment. "The conditions under which Dr. Al-Arian has been detained both during his pre-trial detention, and since his sentencing appear to be unacceptably harsh and punitive," the human rights group Amnesty International wrote in a February letter to the US Attorney General.

"It was quite a strange experience to see our lives portrayed on the big screen like this. But seeing everything that happened during the trial again brings back both good and painful memories," Abdullah said.

After the Toronto premiere Friday, director Line Halvorsen received a lot of praise, but also some accusations of bias.

"It is a personal story seen through the eyes of a family, but the film is clear on the facts. We give the government a lot of screen time and the opportunity to present its point of view. But in the end, what we have is a man found innocent who is still harassed by the justice system. I hope the film will make people aware of the faces behind the headlines and the cases behind the laws."

The film screens again Tuesday 11.30 at the ROM theatre, and the director, Line Halvorsen will be present for a Q&A after the screening.

Download press pictures from Toronto here:
http://www.dalchowsverden.no/presskit_uvsaa/01_Images/02_Events/HotDocs2007/

Other pictures and presskit here:
http://www.dalchowsverden.no/presskit_uvsaa/

More info on the films web: http://www.usavsalarian.com/

SAMI AL-ARIAN'S MULTIPLE PRISON TRANSFERS 2003-2007

April 2007:
4/20/07 to Present: Northern Neck Regional Jail
4/12/07 to 4/20/07: Alexandria Regional Jail, Alexandria, VA
4/10/07 to 4/12/07: FCI Petersburg, Petersburg VA
2/14/07 to 4/10/07: FMC Butner, Butner, NC

January to March 2007
1/19/07 to 2/14/07: Northern Neck Regional Jail
1/18/07 to 1/19/07: Alexandria Regional Jail, Alexandria, VA
1/17/07 to 1/18/07: FCI Petersburg, Petersburg VA
1/3/07 to 1/17/07: USP Atlanta
9/25/06 to 1/3/07: Northern Neck Regional Jail, Warsaw, Virginia

2006:

9/21/06 to 9/25/06: Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) Oklahoma
9/20/06 to 9/21/06: USP Atlanta
6/22/06 to 9/20/06: FCC Coleman Medium Security, Coleman, Florida
6/8/06 to 6/22/06: USP Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
5/4/06 to 6/8/06: Federal Correctional Institution (FCI)
Tallahassee, Florida
2/9/05 to 5/4/06: Orient Road Jail, Tampa

2003-2005:
3/27/03 to 2/9/05: U.S. Penitentiary (USP) Coleman, Coleman, Florida
2/20/03 to 3/27/03: Orient Road Jail, Tampa