[NYTr] al Jazeera: Mistrial for US muslim charity

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

al Jazeera - Oct 22, 2007
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3125B63A-CA60-4F2D-9BA5-2921E8C60ABE.htm

Mistrial for US muslim charity
  	 	
The foundation said it helped Muslim children who were 
victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The trial of former leaders of a US-based charity accused of funneling
aid to "terrorist" organisations has been abandoned, after three jurors
disputed some of the verdicts.

Judge A Joe Fish, who presided over the case, sent the jury back to
resolve their differences, but declared a mistrial on Monday when no
unanimous verdict was returned.

The mistrial was a temporary victory for the former charity leaders,
who said they ran a legitimate organisation that helped Muslim children
made victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The result is also seen as a blow to the legal front of the US
government's so-called "war on terror".

When asked if the government would attempt to retry the case against
what was once the largest Muslim charity in the US, the lead prosecutor
said "yes" but would not comment further because of a gag order.

Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey, speaking from outside the court house in
Dallas, said: "To the Muslim community this is a very important case
because all of their charities have been shut down and millions of
dollars that was supposed to go to help the needy in the Palestinian
territories are now being held by the government."

She said: "Many Muslims feel that the community has been tainted and
labeled guilty by association because so many mainstream groups and
individuals were associated with this charity."

Trial abandoned

The mistrial came about an hour after a confusing scene in the
courtroom, in which three former leaders of the group were initially
found not guilty of most counts, but when jurors were polled three of
them said those verdicts were read incorrectly.

Having been sent back to agree their verdict, after about an hour of
deliberation Fish said he received a note from the jury saying 11 of
the 12 felt they could not reach a unanimous decision.

The jury forewoman said she was surprised by the three jurors' actions.

"When we voted, there was no issue in the vote," she said.

"No one spoke up any different. I really don't understand where it is
coming from."

Two months of testimony

In all, five former leaders of the charity and the Holy Land Foundation
itself had been accused of providing aid groups including Hamas, which
runs the Gaza Strip and has been designated a "terrorist group" by the
US government.

Mohammed El-Mezain, the former chairman of the Holy Land Foundation for
Relief and Development, was acquitted of most of the charges against
him, while the cases for two defendants, initially found not guilty
along with El-Mezain, ended in mistrial.

The jurors did not reach verdicts on charges against the foundation
itself or Shukri Abu Baker, the charity's former chief executive, and
Ghassan Elashi, the former chairman, resulting in mistrials for them
too.

Jurors had heard two months of testimony, mostly from FBI and Israeli
agents who described thousands of pages of documents and hours of
videotapes seized from the Holy Land Foundation.

They also heard from former associates of the group and from
Palestinian charities that received money from the foundation.

Prosecutors said Hamas controlled the charities that received the
funds, but defense lawyers argued none of the Palestinian charities
aided by the foundation were ever designated "terrorist" by the US
government.

Source: Agencies