Board Rules 4 Iranians Not a Threat (not terrorist after 3 yrs in jail)

[papau]

Three years in jail and still counting as the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals considers if the Mirmehdis should be released on bail while their immigration case is being argued.


http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-brothers25aug25.story

Board Rules 4 Iranians Not a Threat (not terrorist after 3 yrs in jail)
Immigration appeals panel calls evidence of brothers' terrorism ties inconclusive. The men, held since 2001, may be sent to another country.
By H.G. Reza
Times Staff Writer

August 25, 2004

Four brothers jailed for almost three years for allegedly supporting terrorists are not a danger to national security and cannot be deported to Iran, an immigration appeals board has ruled.

But it was a bittersweet victory for the Mirmehdis — Mohammed, Mostafa, Mohsen and Mojtaba — who were arrested Oct. 2, 2001, and are also challenging Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft's decision to hold them without bail. The brothers had worked in real estate in the San Fernando Valley before their arrests.

Evidence tying the Mirmehdis to terrorism was inconclusive, the U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals ruled. Federal prosecutors had argued that the brothers' support of the Moujahedeen Khalq — or MEK, an Iranian opposition group that was on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations — made them a national security threat.

"Collectively, 12 years of their lives have been wasted because they've been locked up," said their attorney, Stacy Tolchin. "Their lives have been ruined over nothing. This shows that the government's war on terrorism has been transformed into a war against civil liberties and free speech.<snip>"

[rocktivity]

1. Of course, they may angry enough about their incarceration

to become a threat NOW...

:headbang:
rocknation

[Ms. Clio]

2. Oh, the grotesque irony

The U.S. is allowing that Iranian "terrorist organization" MEK to remain in Iraq.