Sami Omar Al-Hussayen
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Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a native of Saudi Arabia and graduate student in Computer Science at the University of Idaho, is a webmaster whose actions placed him at the center of a Patriot Act lawsuit. Allegedly a major force within the Islamic Assembly of North America, Al-Hussayen ran websites that allegedly recruited, funded, and otherwise supported Islamic terrorists within the United States. Although Al-Hussayen claims he merely volunteered his skills in order to run the sites (based in Michigan), the government insists that this and other involvement, constitutes knowing involvement in terrorism-related activities. Al-Hussayen is also defended online by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
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Arrest and Charges
Al-Hussayen was arrested at on February 26th, 2003 in the town of Moscow, Idaho.
There were two cases against him - one a federal case and the other an immigration related one.
For the federal case, he was initially charged with seven counts of visa fraud, and four counts of lying to officials. All charges stemmed from his alleged work as a webmaster, as foreign students on student visas in the United States of America are not allowed to work for employers not situated on their campus. Al-Hussayen maintained that the work he did was purely voluntary, and did not get monetary compensation, and thus could not have violated the conditions of his visa.
He pleaded innocent on all the charges.
In March of 2003, it was ruled that Mr. Al-Hussayen should be set free without bail and remain under house arrest until his trial commenced. However, immigration officials detained him for their case and he was transferred to their custody.
Trials
The immigration hearings took place behind closed doors in the middle of 2003, and it was ruled that Mr. Al-Hussayen was deportable.
In January of 2004, he was charged with two counts of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists using his skills in computers.
In March of 2004, he was charged with conspiracy to provide material support to Hamas - through donation links on Web sites he allegedly maintained. His formal indictments can be seen here.
His trial began in April of 2004 and lasted six weeks. The defense called only one witness. He was acquitted of all three terrorism charges, and of three of the eight immigration charges. The jurors deadlocked on the remaining charges, and District Judge Edward Lodge declared a mistrial for those remaining charges.
Deportation
After his acquittal at the criminal trial, Al-Hussayen was still imprisoned by immigration authorities, and a few weeks later, agreed not to appeal his deportation order if the prosecution agreed not to retry him for the remaining charges. He was deported to Saudi Arabia in July of 2004. His wife and three sons traveled back to meet him, rather than await deportation orders.
Mr. Al-Hussayen now lives in Riyadh where he works as an instructor at a technical university. His wife is employed as a kindergarten teacher.
Importance of the Case
The Patriot Act authorizes the government to prosecute people for their political beliefs if they "provide expert advice or assistance" to groups labeled "terrorist" by the U.S. government, although a January 2004 federal case in California ruled that this violates First and Fifth Amendment rights.