Sat 15 Dec 2012
The Post-Standard hasn't published any of the letters sent in response to S. Douglas Sanders letter
[Update: Five letters published today, 12/16/12.] The Post-Standard has not published any of the letters sent in response to S.Douglas Sanders letter about John Pilger's article on Dr. Dhafir's case. Â I hope that Mr. Sanders finds his own way to the full article as the Post-Standard published an edited version which left significant information out:
From paragraphs 4 & 5: ""Yes, I agree," he replied. "I feel very ashamed about it. . . Before I went to New York, I went to the Foreign Office expecting a briefing on the vast piles of weapons that we still thought Iraq possessed, and the desk officer sort of looked at me slightly sheepishly and said, 'Well actually, we don't think there is anything in Iraq.'"Â
That was 1997, more than five years before George W Bush and Tony Blair invaded Iraq for reasons they knew were fabricated. "Â
From paragraphs 11, 12 & 13:
"The trial in late 2004 and 2005 was out of Kafka. It began with the prosecution successfully petitioning the judge to prohibit the defence from examining any links with "terrorism". "This ruling turned into a brick wall for the defence," says Katherine Hughes, who was an observer in court. "Prosecutors could hint at more serious charges, but the defence was never allowed to follow that line of questioning and demolish it. Consequently, the trial was not, in fact, what it was really about."Â
It was a political show trial of Stalinist dimensions, an anti-Muslim sideshow to the "war on terror". The jury was told darkly that Dr Dhafir was a Salafi Muslim, as if this was sinister. Osama Bin Laden was mentioned, with no relevance. That Help the Needy had openly advertised its humanitarian aims and there were invoices and receipts for the purchase of emergency food aid was of no interest. In February this year, the same judge, Norman Mordue, "resentenced" Dr Dhafir to 22 years — a cruelty worthy of the Gulag.Â
Stunning conviction
With their "terrorist" case "won", the prosecutors held a dinner to celebrate, "partying", as a Syracuse lawyer wrote to the local news paper, "as if they had won the Super Bowl", having "perpetuated a monstrous lie [against a man] who had helped thousands in Iraq suffering unjustly"."Â
Read John Pilger's article, The end of justice in America
The story of this case that the Syracuse public has never been told is available as a free e-book (pdf 24 pages): Anatomy of a 'Terrorism' Prosecution: Dr. Rafil Dhafir and the Help the Needy Muslim Charity Case
See an interview that aired on WCNY-TV Access Program at 11 p.m. the night before Dr. Dhafir was sentenced to 22 years in prison.  George Kilpatrick interviews BarriGewanter of the ACLU-CNY, and court watchers, Katherine Hughes and Julienne Oldfield.
Saturday, Dec 15th, 2012 at 1:15 am