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Advocacy Blog
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Groups Oppose List of Unindicted Co-conspirators in Holy Land Foundation Trial
The National Association of Muslim Lawyers, the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, and Muslim Advocates sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales objecting to the U.S. government's decision to create and publish a large list of unindicted co-conspirators in the Holy Land Foundation trial. Releasing the names goes against the Department of Justice's guidelines. The letter said that the list could certainly hinder charitable donations to Muslim organizations, further damaging Muslim Americans role in civil society. Many are unsure how to proceed with legal recourse to have their name or organization removed from the list. Furthermore, those on the list have not been charged with anything. Consequently the publication of the list has created a public smear campaign of these individuals and organizations and could potentially be damaging in the future especially if Holy Land is convicted.
The New York Times addresses the letter in this article, Muslim Groups Oppose a List of 'Co-Conspirators'". "Before the judge's order, however, the prosecution, while acknowledging that the list was unusually long, maintained that the names of the organizations would have come up in the trial anyway. Defense lawyers accused the Justice Department of using the list to create the aura of a vast conspiracy where none existed."
The letter sent to Attorney General Gonzales states, "Of particular concern is the apparent categorization of persons and entities based on activities that are facially protected under the constitution --- freedom of association and freedom to exercise religious belief --- for supporting the charitable activities of a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that, until the Fall of 2001, was perceived as a mainstream, legitimate charitable institution in the United States by its donors and volunteers. Therefore, it appears that well-intentioned persons and entities could very well be unfairly implicated in the government's prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation, without notice and an opportunity to challenge the allegations."
In addition, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, which is on the list, has filed a brief charging that the listing violates the uncharged parties' First and Fifth Amendment rights and asks for its name and all others to be removed from the list. "By publicizing CAIR and other Muslim advocacy groups as unindicted co-conspirators, the government has significantly impaired groups engaging in protected free-speech activities by depriving those named groups of any due process rights that they would have had at trial." And read this editorial which cites the list as a "McCarthyite political move."
Posted by Amanda Adams
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