U. of Idaho Student Who Was Acquitted of Terrorism Charges Will Be Deported

Government prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they would not pursue remaining charges against a Saudi graduate student at the University of Idaho who was acquitted last month of fostering terrorism on several Islamic Web sites.

The remaining charges were dropped only after Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a computer-science student who has been in jail since February 2003, agreed to drop his appeal of a deportation order that dates from last year.

Mr. Al-Hussayen will be deported to Saudi Arabia within two weeks, according to government officials.

The agreement closed a case viewed by many legal experts as an important test of one of the most controversial parts of the USA Patriot Act, a provision that makes it illegal to provide advice and assistance to terrorist groups.

At Mr. Al-Hussayen’s trial, prosecutors had used the provision to argue that he had knowingly helped recruit and finance terrorists by featuring links to the Palestinian militant group Hamas from a pair of Web sites that he managed on his home computer.

A federal jury acquitted Mr. Al-Hussayen on June 10 of the most serious charges against him, involving terrorism, but could not reach verdicts on eight counts of making false statements and committing visa fraud.

Had prosecutors retried and convicted him on the remaining charges, Mr. Al-Hussayen would probably have been sentenced to no additional jail time before being deported, according to Thomas E. Moss, the U.S. attorney for Idaho.

“This is a solution we can all live with,” said Mr. Moss. “It is in the best interests of the people of the United States that Mr. Al-Hussayen leave the country as soon as possible, and this agreement accomplishes that.”

David Nevin, Mr. Al-Hussayen’s lawyer, could not be reached for comment.

Background articles from The Chronicle:

• U. of Idaho Graduate Student Is Acquitted of Using Web Sites to Foster Terrorism (6/25/2004)
• Antiterrorism Law Under Debate Again (6/13/2003)
• The FBI Steps Up Its Work on Campuses, Spurring Fear and Anger Among Many Academics (4/11/2003)
• Colleges Fear Anti-Terrorism Law Could Turn Them Into Big Brother (3/1/2002)