[Marxism] Another guilty verdict today

[Andy <esquincle@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Lynne Stewart's conviction is indeed a terrible blow.

Rafil Dhafir, M.D. is a central (upstate) New York oncologist who  
sought to help sick Iraqi children in the 1990s.
Here is Madis Senner's latest update, sent this afternoon:

For Immediate Release
 madis senner
 315-463-5369
 madis@xxxxxxxxxxxx
 Rafil's Homepage: http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/FreeDhafir.htm

         Targeted Muslim Doctor Convicted

         Supporters Shocked and Surprised

Dr. Rafil Dhafir arrested on February 26, 2003, as a potential  
terrorist (to read Ashcroft Statement  
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2003/February/03_crm_119.htm) was found  
guilty on 59 of the 60 charges against him.  When the terrorist claims  
failed to materialize the government expanded its case to include  
Medicare fraud and other charges. Dhafir was found guilty of charity  
fraud, breaking the sanctions against Iraq and Medicare fraud among  
other things.   He was only acquitted of charge 3 in a 60-count  
indictment that dealt with money laundering.

Dr. Dhafir is to be sentenced on June 20, 2005.

Dr. Dhafir is one of the only, if not the only, person to be arrested  
for breaking the sanctions against Iraq. The only thing that  
distinguished Dr. Dhafir from the others that similarly defied the  
sanctions was his Muslim faith.

In a pretrial motion Defense Attorney Devereaux Cannick asked that the  
charges be dropped against Dr. Dhafir because he was being selectively  
prosecuted (To read the motion  
http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/DhafirBailMotion.htm). Because of this  
pretrial ruling the judge did not allow the defense to raise the issue  
of selective prosecution and ask why Dr. Dhafir was being targeted when  
countless other individuals had blatantly and willfully defied the  
sanctions and were not charged. This has been documented with testimony  
from those that similarly defied the sanctions at:  
http://www.jubileeinitiative.org/OperationFreeDhafir.htm

In another pretrial ruling the Judge prevented the defense from  
questioning why Dr. Dhafir had been arrested--so they could not raise  
the issue of terrorism and the government's intent in arresting Dr.  
Dhafir. Arguably this handicapped the defense.

Going into the trial there was a question as to whether in a post 9-11  
environment  the Dr. could find a fair jury. In an effort to find an  
unbiased jury the court sent out a pretrial 44-page questionnaire to  
prospective jurors. Some of the comments that came back were very  
racist. To read more about the questionnaire go to:  
http://www.syracuse.com/news/crime/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-1/ 
1096275470208011.xml

One of the contentious issues of the trial had been the coverage of the  
trial by the local paper, the Syracuse Post Standard. Several  
supporters set up blogs to document what they saw as unfair and  
prejudiced coverage. To access two of these blogs go to:

http://www.dhafirtrial.net/
http://dontsmeardhafir.blogspot.com/

Dr. Dhafir's supporters were shocked and surprised that he was  
convicted of so many charges. Several that had attended the trial on a  
regular basis questioned whether they had been sitting in the same  
courtroom as the jury. Others said that this was another sign that  
there are two systems of justice in our country--one for rich and white  
folks, the other for the poor, people of color and Muslims. Some saw  
deeper symbolism and wondered what this verdict says of our country  
referring to a recent Cornell study that found 44% of Americans would  
favor restricting the civil liberties of Muslims in America (To read  
the survey go to: http://www.comm.cornell.edu/msrg/report1a.pdf

The lawyers were going to meet with Dr. Dhafir to determine what they  
were going to do next, if anything. I am hopeful that the defense will  
move ahead with an appeal.

The one bright note of the Dhafir trial was the Dr. Dhafir was never  
charged with terrorism--so he was never convicted of terrorism.  The  
sad thing is that he was not allowed to wipe this smear from his name  
in court!







 

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