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Advocacy Blog
Friday, June 20, 2008
ACLU Challenges Two Organizations Labeled "Unindicted Co-Conspirators"
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the ACLU of Texas filed a legal challenge in Dallas federal court to clear the names of two organizations, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), named by the government as "unindicted co-conspirators" in its criminal case against the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). Government attorneys publicly identified them as co-conspirators before the HLF trial, even though neither organization was the subject of a criminal investigation or charged with any crimes.
The HLF case ended in a mistrial last fall and is scheduled for a retrial in September. The ACLU press release states that "the government conceded, however, that it had absolutely no evidence proving that either ISNA or NAIT had engaged in a criminal conspiracy. The lead prosecutor in the case told lawyers for the two organizations 'that ISNA and NAIT were not subjects or targets in the HLF prosecution or in any other pending investigation.' The prosecutor also acknowledged that the public labeling was simply a 'legal tactic' intended to allow the government to introduce hearsay evidence against HLF later at trial."
The court papers argue that the groups are mainstream charitable organizations, and the government violated their Fifth Amendment rights when it publicly branded them as criminals.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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