By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter: About one hundred Muslims packed a Richardson hotel meeting room, to express their shock and anger over the arrest of Ghassan, Basman, Hazim, and Bayan Elashi. The brothers worked at the family business, Richardson's InfoCom web-hosting company. Supporters reject the government accusations made in the 33-count indictment, and Bayan Elashi's teenaged daughter Rowan said she, her many cousins, and her younger sister were distraught by the early morning arrests.
Rowan Elashi: They handcuffed my father and didn't provide him with a chance to change from his PJ's or use a bathroom. We haven't seen or heard from them ever since. My 4-year-old sister was crying all day yesterday. She kept a picture of him and shared it with schoolmates. She asked how he was, where he was, what he slept on and what food he ate. Why should a young innocent girl suffer so much?
Khalid Hamideh, spokesperson, Dallas/Fort Worth Council on American-Islamic Relations: The Islamic associations and all of its members in North Texas feel betrayed.
Zeeble: Attorney Khalid Hamideh represents the local Council on American Islamic Relations.
Khalid Hamideh, Attorney: We as Americans hold true to the values of what it is to be an American, values we hold dear. Due process, civil liberties. Equal protection under the laws. And we hope the four members of Elashi family that were arrested get all the due process guaranteed to everyone in our constitution.
Zeeble: Hamideh and others backing the Elashis accused Attorney General John Ashcroft of abusing his power, and branding all Muslims as terrorists when he said at Wednesday's press conference in Washington that authorities are hunting down murderers terrorist money supports. And just as terrorist bombers will be aggressively prosecuted for their dirty work, so too will financiers of terror. The Justice Department had no response to Hamideh's allegations that Ashcroft went too far. But former U.S. Attorney Paul Coggins believes Hamideh may have a point about Ashcroft.
Paul Coggins, Attorney, Fish and Richardson, former U.S. Attorney: I think he has a tendency in some press conferences to go beyond the scope of the indictment. It's Department of Justice policy that when you have a press conference, you stay within the four corners of the indictment. The Attorney General, on several occasions, has gone far beyond the indictment in making statements to the press, and I think it sets a bad example.
Zeeble: But as for the evidence, unknown to all but the authorities, Coggins suspects the government has a good case.
Coggins: I know the prosecutor in the case quite well. A prosecutor by the name of Jim Jacks, who's the head of the terrorism section. Jim Jacks is a very careful, meticulous prosecutor. I know some of the agents working the case. Without knowing any of the evidence myself, I would guess it's been combed over pretty carefully.
Zeeble: Coggins believes this high-profile case should go to trial in the spring, when all the evidence will be revealed. He expects nothing to be kept secret, which is a concern of many in the Muslim community. Khalid Hamideh fears the revered American judicial system may fail the Elashis.
Hamideh: We all know the anti-terror fervor running rampant in this country may prevent those four individuals from getting a fair trial. If evidence is made public and lawyers are given a chance to defend them in an open, speedy trial, they'll be exonerated against all charges pending against them.
Zeeble: The four Elashi brothers have a bond hearing today. The government will argue they should not be released because they're a flight risk. The Elashi daughters say their fathers are good men devoted to the community and their families who need them, and they just want them back home. For KERA 90.1, I'm Bill Zeeble.
To contact Bill Zeeble, please send emails to bzeeble@kera.org.