Chicago, IL – Federal charges were unsealed against two Chicago men, Aug. 6, for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe. The charges claim that Ben Israel and Greg Turner assisted Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and others in an effort to lift the unjust economic sanctions. The government claims that Israel and Tuner were promised payment for their lobbying and consulting work in 2008 and 2009.

The men have been charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which carries up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

An affidavit from FBI agent Steven Noldin claims the two lobbied congress people and Illinois state politicians.

Starting under the Bush administration, Zimbabwe and its leaders have faced devastating sanctions for charting a course of development independent of Western domination. U.S. politicians have also condemned Zimbabwe’s land reform efforts.

A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago indicates the FBI investigation started in late 2008. According to the statement, “a scheduler for President-Elect Obama’s transition team sent an email to another transition team member stating that State Representative A ‘wants a phone call from [transition team officials] regarding a meeting he had last week in Zimbabwe. I am not sure who to pass this on to but it’s the second time they have called.’ The transition team forwarded this email to the FBI based on its concerns that State Representative A may have violated sanctions by traveling to Zimbabwe.”

One of the prosecutors pursuing the case is civil liberties opponent Barry Jonas. Jonas is well known for his prosecution of the Holy Land 5. Accused of material support for terrorism, the five are now doing long prison sentences for the ‘crime’ of providing charity to Palestinians.

Jonas is also working on the case of Midwest anti-war and international solidarity activists who were raided by the FBI in September 2010 and subpoenaed to a Chicago grand jury investigating material support of terrorism. The peace activists demand an end to the investigation.

#ChicagoIL #sanctions #USImperialism #AssistantUSAttorneyBarryJonas #InjusticeSystem #Zimbabwe

“Hands off our families, hands off our friends! Barry Jonas, this must end!” This chant rang out in front of DePaul’s College of Law in Chicago, where over 30 protesters gathered to denounce Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas’ speaking at an event titled, “Fighting Terrorism in the Courtroom,” about government targeting of charity organizations that send humanitarian aid to Palestinians, especially the Holy Land Foundation (HLF). The Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter at DePaul raised the call, “Hey DePaul, let’s be clear – racists are not welcome here!” Other members of SJP organized a silent protest outside the door of the event, giving visual representation to how Palestinians are often silenced and reminding attendees of the killing of Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli military.

Jonas is the notorious anti-Palestinian ideologue who is guilty of prosecutorial misconduct in the HLF case – most egregiously denying the defendants their constitutional right to confront witnesses against them, specifically an Israeli intelligence officer who refused to release his identity, agreeing only to testify under a pseudonym. This and many other constitutional violations led to the convictions of five leaders of HLF, each now serving decades in prison.

A number of protesters went inside the event to confront Jonas directly, putting themselves face to face with him and his supporters. Some questioned the audience, asking how an institution that claims to stand for justice could allow a presentation rooted in Islamophobia and racism. Others spoke to Jonas directly.

Joe Iosbaker, one of the 23 antiwar activists who were subpoenaed to a federal grand jury by Jonas’ superiors in 2010, queried him: “My wife and I had our home raided two and a half years ago due to similar allegations of material support for terrorism. No indictments have been issued but we have had a dark cloud hanging over our heads ever since. How long is the statute of limitations on cases like this?” Jonas responded that the statute of limitations was eight years but added that he could not comment on ongoing investigations. Iosbaker left the room while shouting: “Solidarity is not a crime! Charity is not a crime! Organizing is not a crime!”

Jonas’ supporters revealed even more about the true nature and character of these investigations. One shouted that he hoped Iosbaker would be “indicted tomorrow,” and another suggested using torture techniques on a protester who was being escorted out of the event by the police. In the morning, an organizer of the event told a DePaul law student, who was passing out leaflets about Jonas’ history of attacks on Palestinians, that she would make the rest of his career at the College of Law very difficult for him. She also stated that he may be in violation of student conduct rules by objecting to Jonas and that his protest would most certainly be a roadblock to his ability to practice law in the future.

Despite the bloodthirstiness of his supporters, Jonas and his co-panelist, Stephen J. Landes, crumbled under the pressure of the dissenters. They could not make it through the whole presentation and the event ended half an hour early, much to the embarrassment of the Judaic Studies faculty, students and staff who organized the event.

Jonas was escorted out of a back entrance to avoid contact with protesters, but the picket outside DePaul continued. Attendees left hearing the sound of chants like, “Hey hey, ho ho, Islamophobia has got to go!” Muhammad Sankari, a member of the Chicago chapter of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and a protester, said, “Our shutting down of Jonas was a major victory. These people cannot just spew their racism with impunity.”

Kait McIntyre is a member of the Chicago Antiwar Committee

#ChicagoIL #PalestineSolidarity #JoeIosbaker #AssistantUSAttorneyBarryJonas #AntiWar23 #FBIRepression #HolyLand5 #PoliticalRepression

Justice for the Holy Land Five! Tell the U.S. Supreme Court to order a new trial! Release the Five now!

The Holy Land Five need our urgent solidarity. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide in late October whether their final appeal will even be heard. The Holy Land Five are five Muslim charity leaders wrongly imprisoned due to U.S. government political repression. They are being punished for publicly sending charity to Palestinians, at a time when U.S. domination is being challenged in the Middle East.

The first Holy Land trial ended in a hung jury, but a second one — using secret witnesses who were never identified to the defense, hearsay evidence and a ‘shock video’ showing protesters in Palestine burning an American flag — contributed to prejudicing the jurors. The result is that five men, who did nothing wrong, are suffering long sentences, between 15 and 65 years.

The lead prosecutor who used these dirty tricks in court is Barry Jonas. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas is now in Chicago, conducting the ongoing investigation of 23 Midwest anti-war and international solidarity activists. Jonas is a pro-Israel ideologue, politically motivated and willing to trample on people’s rights.

As thousands of Occupy Wall Street protesters learned this past year, the U.S. is becoming a more repressive place. For more than ten years now, hundreds of Arabs and Muslims have faced and are facing unjust prosecutions. Many are already behind bars. Help us turn this case around and demand the U.S. Supreme Court order a new trial now!

Join author Noor Elashi and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression in a national day of action on Thursday, October 25, 2012. Noor Elashi is daughter of U.S. political prisoner and Holy Land Five leader Ghassan Elashi. Now is the time to act for freedom! Justice for the Holy Land Five!

#UnitedStates #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #HolyLandFive #AssistantUSAttorneyBarryJonas #InjusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners

Chicago, IL – Leaders of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) say they plan to step up the fight against political repression this fall. “The attempt by the Justice Department to jail anti-war and international solidarity activists, the frame-ups of Arabs and Muslims, the outrageous cases stemming from the NATO protests, and the coordinated attacks on the Occupy movement mean that we have our work cut out for us,” states Jess Sundin of the CSFR.

Sundin is one of the anti-war activists whose homes were raided by the FBI on Sept. 24, 2010. On that day, more than 70 agents raided seven homes in Chicago and Minneapolis, along with the office of the Twin Cites-based Anti-War Committee. A total of 23 activists were served with subpoenas to a Chicago-based grand jury investigating “material support for terrorism.” All of them refused to appear in front of the grand jury and there was an out pouring of support for the activists. These events led to the formation of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

Stop Barry Jonas

Standing up to the FBI and grand jury attacks on anti-war and international solidarity activists will be a critical area of work for the CSFR in upcoming months.

A statement from the CSFR makes note of recent developments, “In late July 2012, Northern Illinois Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas refused to return much of the material seized in the FBI raid on the home of Hatem Abudayyeh, citing the ongoing ‘material support for terrorism’ investigation that is underway against anti-war, Palestinian and international solidarity activists.”

The CSFR also points out, “The Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office has told lawyers representing the anti-war and international solidarity activists that they are preparing ‘multiple indictments of multiple people.’ Barry Jonas’ refusal to return Abudayyeh’s papers is the latest confirmation that the investigation has not ended and that the Justice Department is continuing its vendetta against those who are working for peace with justice. This needs to be taken seriously. In a number of ‘material support of terrorism’ cases, there has been a gap of one to three or more years between the FBI raids and indictments.”

Barry Jonas is well known for participating in one of the worst violations of civil liberties in the past decade. He played a leading role in prosecuting the leaders of the United Holy Land Foundation while he was trial attorney for the Department of Justice Counter-terrorism Section.

According to the CSFR: “That Barry Jonas is now the lead prosecutor for the international solidarity activists is troubling. Jonas is a pro-Israel ideologue whose work in prosecuting the Holy Land case exposed his politically motivated willingness to trample on the rights of accused Palestinians. As the lead prosecutor in the Holy Land case, Jonas used secret witnesses (the defense never got to find out who the witnesses were), hearsay evidence and the introduction of evidence that had nothing to do with the defendants in the case – such as showing a video from Palestine of protesters burning an American flag – as a means to prejudice the jury. The result was that five men, who did nothing wrong, are sitting in prison with sentences that range between 15 and 65 years.”

Victory in Carlos Montes case

Supporters of civil liberties have been energized by the important victory that was won this past June, in defeating the FBI frame-up of veteran Chicano activist Carlos Montes. “The FBI attempt to put Montes in jail was a part of the case against the 23 other anti-war activists. When the FBI raided homes and served subpoenas on Sept. 24 2010, Carlos Montes’ name was listed on the FBI search warrant for the Anti-War Committee office in Minneapolis,” states Mick Kelly of the CSFR.

Montes’ home was raided on May 17, 2011, by the combined forces of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Swat Team and the FBI. They crashed Montes’ door down at 5:00 a.m., with automatic assault rifles drawn, almost killing him. He was charged with six serious felonies with a possible jail time of up to 18 years.

With local and national support, via solidarity protests, call-in campaigns to President Obama and U.S. Attorney General Holder, local rallies and protests and an offensive legal strategy, two felonies were dropped – this was a first partial victory. However, the District Attorney still stated that they wanted Montes to do at least five years in state prison for the four remaining felony charges.

The Los Angeles and national Committees to Stop FBI Repression launched a petition drive and a “Call the D.A.” campaign, with phone banking and a robo call by Carlos to over 4000 supporters, urging folks to call District Attorney Steve Cooley. The D.A.’s office was flooded with calls and letters.

Montes’ attorney made several motions to get charges dropped on various grounds, but the Los Angeles Superior Court judge rejected them. Preparations were made for a trial, knowing well the state judicial system is not ‘fair and impartial.’ Montes and his attorney Jorge Gonzalez got widespread support and media coverage, including by the Democracy Now TV show, La Opinión and the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

The local district attorney on the case then sought for a resolution and proposed to drop three additional felonies, if Carlos pled “no contest” to one count of perjury. This proposal included no jail time, three years of probation and community service. Under advice from supporters, friends and his attorney, Montes moved forward with this proposal.

Pledge to resist FBI repression

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression urges people from around the world to pledge to take action in the event that anti-war and international solidarity activists are re-called to appear before a grand jury or are indicted. An online version of the pledge can be found on the website stopfbi.net.

#ChicagoIL #CarlosMontes #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #AssistantUSAttorneyBarryJonas #AntiWar23

Chicago U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas are aiming to indict the activists on ‘material support for terrorism’ charges. Jonas, well known for his outrageous prosecution of the Holy Land Foundation, recently confirmed the ongoing investigation of the anti-war activists.

In 2010, the FBI raided the homes of anti-war, trade union and international solidarity activists. 23 were subpoenaed to a grand jury headed by Patrick Fitzgerald. As a part of the same investigation, the FBI orchestrated a raid on the home of veteran Chicano leader Carlos Montes in May, 2011.

Montes, who is facing up to 18 years of prison on trumped up charges, will be in Los Angeles Superior Court March 2, for a discovery hearing that seeks more information about the role of the FBI in his prosecution.

#ChicagoIL #September24FBIRaids #CommitteeToStopFBIRepression #HolyLandFoundation #AssistantUSAttorneyBarryJonas #ChicagoUSAttorneyPatrickFitzgerald