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Dallas Morning News – July 9, 2004 Dallas Muslim leaders speak out after Elashi verdict BY KIM HORNER Dallas Muslim leaders spoke out Friday against what they called selective prosecution in the recent convictions of five Richardson brothers for illegally shipping high-tech goods to nations deemed sponsors of terrorism. "We believe that these convictions indicate a growing disparity and climate of injustice for Muslims, who we feel are being selectively prosecuted and given unfair sentences precisely because they are Muslim or Arab," said Khalil Meek, who serves on the board of directors of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The group held a news conference about the case at its Dallas office. Mr. Meek said the federal government has imposed administrative fines rather than criminal convictions on non-Muslims who have admitted similar export violations. "This is not justice," Mr. Meek said. "This growing trend of selective prosecution only furthers much of the community's view that this is nothing but a witch-hunt against the Muslim community." A federal court jury on July 7 convicted the five brothers of conspiring to use their Richardson computer services business to make illegal shipments of high-tech goods to Libya and Syria, two nations deemed state sponsors of terrorism. After deliberating more than 18 hours over three days, the jury of nine women and three men concluded that Ghassan Elashi and his brothers, Bayan, Basman, Hazim and Ihsan, repeatedly violated U.S. export laws between 1995 and 2000. The jury's verdict was mixed. While the brothers were convicted of making shipments to Syria and Libya and conspiring to undervalue shipments to other countries, all but Basman Elashi were acquitted on most charges alleging individual false statements. A spokesman for the team of prominent defense attorneys has said an appeal of the convictions is likely… http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/090704dntexelashi.a3b46.html |