Free Brother Tarek Mehanna Court Appearance: 30/10/09

[al-Afghanee]

Free Tarek Mehanna Court Appearance



Most of you know and have benefitted from brother Tarek Mehanna, his efforts in the society and his many Translations of classical texts on his Blog: http://iskandrani.wordpress.com/

Today, he lies in prison due to false and ridiculous charges brought against him because he had refused to succumb spineless, refused to contradict his principles and very ethics by working as an FBI spy. Here is what his brother had to say about him:

Background:

Tariq Mehanna is a 27 year old Muslim Egyptian American born and raised in the United States. Highly educated, Tariq holds a doctorate in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. He is a devout and tolerant Muslim who is not only respected in the local Islamic and interfaith communities, but who also gives back to his Islamic community by fulfilling the roles of brother, educator, mentor, scholar, and friend. Tariq is described by those who know him well as humble, reserved, warm, peaceful, intelligent, knowledgeable, reflective, pragmatic, dedicated, and straightforward. He is a person with strong ethical values who refuses to compromise on them regardless of the circumstances. It is unfortunate then that this customarily admirable trait plays a role in his current situation.

Several years ago, the Boston FBI began to approach Tariq. They recognized that he was a religious Muslim who was active in the local Islamic community, had earned the respect of many, and was beloved to the youth. The FBI recognized in Tariq an individual who is intelligent, charismatic, influential and trusted by many in the local Islamic community. They decided that they wanted Tariq on their side, and began to approach him in an effort to recruit him as an informant. Their objective was to secure Tariq as a tool to corroborate any FBI claims or accusations against members of the community that might arise, at the discretion of the FBI. Of course, Tariq flat out refused to backstab his fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, a decision that did not sit well at all with the FBI.

The FBI then proceeded to repeatedly approach Tariq over the coming months, each time pressuring him more and more to collaborate with them. This pressure most often came in the form of blackmail; Tariq was told that unless he consented to cooperating with the FBI, they would continue finding new ways to disrupt his life and to deprive him of a sense of security. He was told outright by interrogators that they knew he was innocent, but that they would not be satisfied with his refusal to cooperate. Regardless of whether their methods were unethical, coercive, or failed to respect his civil rights, the FBI were quite fortunate in catching an opportunity to arrest Tariq in 2008 based on a weak accusation of issuing “false statements” to a federal officer. After two months of imprisonment, his court-appointed attorney, Jay Carney, jr., was able to negotiate a bail settlement of $1,250,000. Tariq was subsequently released after this absurdly inflated amount was paid by his parents, who were desperate to have him return home safely.

Tariq did return home for nearly a year, living a quiet life, restricted by a court-ordered curfew, and monitored by FBI investigators. In the meantime, the case against him, based on “false testimony” charges, began to stagnate, and court dates were far and in between with no advances made by the FBI. Over time, the Mehanna family began to finally feel a sense of restored normalcy and stability in their lives. This feeling was suddenly and violently shattered during the fajr hours of October 21st, 2009, when FBI agents showed up at the Mehanna home doorstep at 5:00AM in the morning. Despite the lack of ANY new evidence since the prior arrest, the agents came with an arrest warrant. According to Dr. Ahmed Mehanna, Tariq’s father, the agents were visibly excited and enthusiastic about their invasion of the Mehanna private household and the seizure and arrest of Tariq. The situation facing Tariq now is one where his second arrest means that there is no chance for bail. Tariq is currently incarcerated at the Plymouth Correctional Facility, where he is expected to remain for the several year duration of a new trial based on outright FALSE AND LUDICROUSE accusations of aiding and abetting terrorism. He currently faces LIFE IN PRISON if convicted guilty in a trial by grand jury. We must offer our greatest support and most dedicated effort if there is to be hope of Tariq’s release. Thank you for taking the time to read this history, and we are confident that you will share our knowledge of Tariq’s innocence. In addition, it is our sincere hope that the United States justice system remain true to its “innocent until proven guilty” origins, and for Tariq to receive a fair and just trial.

A court date has been set for this coming Friday 30th October for 11.00am at
Moakley Federal Courthouse,
1 Courthouse Way,
Boston MA, USA

Everyone is urged to attend, particularly those in the area. Please go and show your support. Today it may be someone else, but tomorrow it may well be you, your family or a close one.

[al-Afghanee]

All are requested to make efforts in accordance to their means to free the imprisoned brother

The following are useful links to be informed of how to be involved and background details:

- Free Tarek Site: http://www.freetarek.com/

- Free Tarek Official Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=159128188381

- Free Tarek Mehanna Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/Tarekm/petition-sign.html

Please make du'aa for the brother and all those who have been detained.

May Allaah azza wa jall free the prisoners and protect their families from the enemies of our deen- Aameen.

[al-Afghanee]

It is narrated by Abu Talha al-Ansari (رضي الله عنه) and Jabir bin Abdullah (رضي الله عنه), that the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said,
“No man forsakes a Muslim when his rights are being violated or his honour is being attacked except that Allaah will forsake him at a place in which he would love to have His help. And no man helps a Muslim at a time when his honour is being attacked or his rights violated except that Allaah will help him at a place in which he loves to have His help”. (#4866 Abu Dawud, Kitab al-Adab)

[Bint.Omar]

JZK..inshallah all users can try to sign the petition.

[Abu Suleiman]

HEARING POSTPONED

Message from Tamer (on facebook group):

Guys good news! Today I received word that a load of documents that were supposed to be made available to Tariq's lawyers a while ago were only just released to them today by the government. Of course his lawyers had to delay his case as a result, so they would be as prepared as lawyers of their caliber need to be before a major hearing.

From today until the day of the hearing I, along with a number of other members, will be using our extra time in organizing a series of fundraisers and college campus events to recruit more supporters and people to attend the new hearing. Did I originally say that 100 was a good number of attendants? Make that 200 please. Let us make it clear, then: we won't be intimidated or deterred by silly games, lol Allah is the one in charge here. Allahuakbar.

[♥Hafsah♥]

for raising awarness about the plight if our brother Tarek

[al-Afghanee]

for the update dear brother.

The latest hearing date is now approaching, all are requested to make du'aa, attend court if possible and to support the brothers case.

[as-samah]

....yet more proof that the West is at war with us, we should not feel safe in their lands

[Abu Suleiman]

Update on how the hearing went, by Tamer on facebook group:

As-Salaamu 3laikum and Peace to everybody,

Today's hearing was one specifically intended to determine whether Tariq posed a flight-risk or not, and hence whether or not bail would be an option. Nothing was definitively decided today, although there are certain potential offers from the bail office that are being tossed back and forth. Regarding the support that was provided, all my family and I can say is....WOW.

You will hear varying reports regarding how many people came to support Tariq, anywhere ranging from "two dozen" to "nearly 200." I counted and recounted, and the numbers that I arrived at fell between 150--160 people present. Not only this, however! We had picket signs, a banner, and even t-shirts proclaiming Tariq's innocence and calling for his release! The t-shirts were for sale, and they literally flew off the shelf--if we had made twice as many they still would have sold out very quickly.

MashaAllah, the showing was really tremendous, and I personally got a particular kick out of the Boston Herald reporter (this newspaper has been among the most critical of Tariq), who arrived and was bewildered at the sight of so many people standing outside of the courtroom.

Transcript:
Reporter1: What is this?? Who are all these people??

Reporter2: They are here to support the defendant.

Reporter3: I've never seen anything like this before...

That said, my family and I would like to express our heartfelt thanks to those people who took the time out of their very busy schedules to show up at the hearing. Tariq turned at the end of the hearing, and I was only a few feet away from him--believe me when I say that his face literally LIT UP and a HUGE SMILE broke out on his face when he saw the corridor outside the courtroom absolutely PACKED with supporters. It was a beautiful sight, and I speak for my whole family again when I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. I know there were also many of you who live out of state and could not make it, and I want to thank you for asking about Tariq and really trying to stay abreast of things.

Regarding the court hearing proceedings, the prosecution kept trying to make an excessively dramatic case about how dangerous Tariq was to society, which I'm sure was very difficult considering the lack of any evidence to substantiate their claims. Jay Carney, Tariq's attorney, did an outstanding job of protecting him, and he used a very powerful strategy of placing a burden of conscience on the judge himself by telling him that this case would have repercussions not only for Tariq and our family, but for Muslims in America and most importantly, for he--the judge himself--in the future of his still-young career. He concluded by urging the judge to think deeply about this issue and the consequences it would have for all parties involved, including the judge himself. The judge ruled that he would take the next 1 to 2 weeks to deliberate on the matter, and so inshaAllah we will find out soon if Tariq will be released on bail or if he will held longer.

Please feel free to post any questions about the hearing here, and I will do my best to answer them right away!