Tampa, FL – About two dozen people gathered here, March 7, at the United Church of Christ to hear from speakers on civil freedoms. The topics ranged from solitary confinement to the persecution of peace activists. Friends of Human Rights in Tampa Bay organized the event and many other organizations participated.

In the room, the organizers had constructed a mock 6 by 9 foot solitary confinement cell to show people what Arab, Muslim and political prisoners have to go through. The event opened up with a video of Sami Al-Arian. You can view the video here: http://youtu.be/NPdpxxBR2jk. Sami Al-Arian was the University of South Florida professor who was thrown into jail in 2006 for alleged “material support for terrorism.” He is part of the ongoing persecution of Arab-Americans throughout the U.S. At his trial, he was found not guilty, but is currently under house arrest in Virginia.

Jared Hamil, a local activist, spoke of the work of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. He talked about the 23 activists who were raided by the FBI or subpoenaed to a grand Jury in 2010, and their connection to the case of Rasmea Odeh. Odeh is a Chicago Palestinian leader who was arrested in October 2013 on bogus immigration fraud charges.

Hamil also said that only a few weeks ago, the anti-war and international solidarity activists had received the unsealed affidavits that were used to obtain the search warrants for the FBI raids in 2010. He noted, “Like many anti-terrorism cases against Arabs and Muslims, the affidavit contained lies and out of context statements taken by the police spy. They pieced together a fabricated story. The affidavits only reveal that they were targeted specifically for speaking out and organizing against U.S. wars and for building solidarity with movements across the world.”

Speaking about Rasmea Odeh, Hamil said, “Rasmea has done nothing wrong. She has been singled out because of who she is. She's a Palestinian woman, a respected community leader, and an activist who speaks out against U.S. Israeli occupation of Palestine. For the U.S. government, though, that's a lot of wrong.”

The last speaker was Laila Yaghi, mother of imprisoned Ziyad Yaghi from Raleigh, North Carolina. Ziyad is currently locked up in solitary confinement in a federal prison in Coleman, Florida. He was arrested in July 2009 when he was 19 years old for allegedly “conspiring to materially support terrorists.” He was one of seven young men who the U.S. government followed for years and were singled out for being Arab, Muslim and against the war in Afghanistan.

Laila Yaghi spoke of how the FBI had followed both her and her son for years. After he was arrested the FBI pressured Ziyad to lie about the other men who were arrested to get a lesser sentence. He did not. At the court, she said, the prosecutor used unclear recordings and statements to make a case to the jury. Yaghi also said the prosecutor had made use of unrelated videos showing armed fighters with black masks for dramatic effect. Ziyad Yaghi is expected to be released from prison in 2037.

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