Mistrial In High Profile Terror Case

In yet another case of President Bush’s justice department overreaching in terrorist prosecutions, a mistrial was declared in the case of Mohammad el-Mezain. He used to run the largest Islamic charity organization in the US, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development.

The charity was accused providing aid in the name of Hamas in an effort to build good will and support for the terrorist organization in the West Bank and Gaza. Understandably, this would be a difficult case to prove, in this case the government failed. As part of their case they used recorded phone conversations where members of the charity expressed sympathy for extremist actions. This was supposed to act as “evidence” that the charity knowing supplied material assistance to the terrorist organization.

One juror said,

"I thought they were not guilty across the board," said Neal, 33, an art director from Dallas. The case "was strung together with macaroni noodles. There was so little evidence."

This is a good result; it shows the Juries can resist the temptation to convict every terror suspect, regardless of evidence. Once again law enforcement mechanisms prove to be sufficient at coping with international terrorism.