(Associated Press)
BOISE, Idaho - Handing the government a stinging defeat in its war on terror, a jury acquitted a Saudi graduate student Thursday of charges that he used his computer expertise to help Muslim terrorists raise money and recruit followers.
"I hope the message is that the First Amendment is important and meaningful in this country," said David Nevin, defense attorney for Sami Omar Al-Hussayen.
The case against Al-Hussayen, a 34-year-old doctoral candidate in computer science at the University of Idaho, was seen as an important test of a provision of the Patriot Act that makes it a crime to provide expert advice or assistance to terrorists.
Al-Hussayen set up and ran Web sites that prosecutors said were used to recruit terrorists, raise money and disseminate inflammatory rhetoric. They said the sites included religious edicts justifying suicide bombings and an invitation to contribute financially to the militant Palestinian organization Hamas.
Al-Hussayen's attorneys argued that he had little to do with the creation of the material posted. And they said the material was protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression and was not designed to raise money or recruit extremists.
"There was a lack of hard evidence," said juror John Steger. "There was no clear-cut evidence that said he was a terrorist, so it was all on inference."
Al-Hussayen was acquitted on all three terrorism charges, as well as one count of making a false statement and two counts of visa fraud. Jurors could not reach verdicts on three more false-statement counts and five additional visa-fraud counts, and a mistrial was declared on those charges.
U.S. Attorney Tom Moss said it would be a week before a decision is made on whether to retry Al-Hussayen on the eight counts on which the jury was deadlocked.
Al-Hussayen faced up to 15 years for each of the three terrorism charges, 25 years on each visa-fraud charge and five years on each false-statement charge. He still faces deportation and will remain in custody until the government decides what to do next.
Moss rejected any suggestion that the verdict would stifle the government's pursuit of terrorism supporters.
"You don't just need people who will strap on bombs and walk into crowds," Moss said. "You need people to support them. For terrorism to flourish, they have to have a communications network. This was a case as prosecutors we're expected to pursue."
Justice Department officials in Washington would not comment on the verdict.
The jury reached its verdict after seven days of deliberations and a trial that lasted seven weeks.
BOISE, Idaho - Handing the government a stinging defeat in its war on terror, a jury acquitted a Saudi graduate student Thursday of charges that he used his computer expertise to help Muslim terrorists raise money and recruit followers.
"I hope the message is that the First Amendment is important and meaningful in this country," said David Nevin, defense attorney for Sami Omar Al-Hussayen.
The case against Al-Hussayen, a 34-year-old doctoral candidate in computer science at the University of Idaho, was seen as an important test of a provision of the Patriot Act that makes it a crime to provide expert advice or assistance to terrorists.
Al-Hussayen set up and ran Web sites that prosecutors said were used to recruit terrorists, raise money and disseminate inflammatory rhetoric. They said the sites included religious edicts justifying suicide bombings and an invitation to contribute financially to the militant Palestinian organization Hamas.
Al-Hussayen's attorneys argued that he had little to do with the creation of the material posted. And they said the material was protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression and was not designed to raise money or recruit extremists.
"There was a lack of hard evidence," said juror John Steger. "There was no clear-cut evidence that said he was a terrorist, so it was all on inference."
Al-Hussayen was acquitted on all three terrorism charges, as well as one count of making a false statement and two counts of visa fraud. Jurors could not reach verdicts on three more false-statement counts and five additional visa-fraud counts, and a mistrial was declared on those charges.
U.S. Attorney Tom Moss said it would be a week before a decision is made on whether to retry Al-Hussayen on the eight counts on which the jury was deadlocked.
Al-Hussayen faced up to 15 years for each of the three terrorism charges, 25 years on each visa-fraud charge and five years on each false-statement charge. He still faces deportation and will remain in custody until the government decides what to do next.
Moss rejected any suggestion that the verdict would stifle the government's pursuit of terrorism supporters.
"You don't just need people who will strap on bombs and walk into crowds," Moss said. "You need people to support them. For terrorism to flourish, they have to have a communications network. This was a case as prosecutors we're expected to pursue."
Justice Department officials in Washington would not comment on the verdict.
The jury reached its verdict after seven days of deliberations and a trial that lasted seven weeks.
