Tampa Bay Coalition for Justice and Peace
March 25, 2008

Mar. 22 Washington Post article on Al-Arian Case Contained Errors

The Washington Post on Mar. 22 published an article about the Al-Arian case (Refusal Keeps Terrorism Convict in Prison) that contained some errors.

The article takes at face value the Department of Justice's claim that the plea agreement Dr. Al-Arian signed with the government does not bar them from requesting his testimony. But federal prosecutors based in Florida, who negotiated the plea agreement on behalf of the DOJ, dispute this statement.

Assistant US Attorney Terry Zitek on Nov. 18, 2006, told Judge James Moody of Florida: "Al-Arian says, 'I don't want to cooperate.' So we say, 'We won't put a cooperation provision in
there.'"The "cooperation provision" to which Zitek referred was, of course, the standard cooperation provision which forms the backdrop of every plea agreement signed in the Middle District of Florida.
This provision was expressly removed in the Al-Arian case, at Dr. Al-Arian's insistence. The government acceded to this request.

Dr. Al-Arian's attorney, Jonathan Turley, clarified some mistakes and misrepresentations in the article in a blog post on his website.