Sabri Benkahla

Sabri Benkahla is an American Muslim theologian and lecturer of Islamic Studies. He was convicted on February 5, 2007, of two counts before a grand jury. The first count was for obstruction of justice and the second for making a false statement to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This conviction qualified for sentencing enhancement pursuant to 3A1.4, Application Note 2. The sentence he received was 10 years.

Early life and education Benkahla was born in Virginia, and is a United States citizen of Arab descent. He attended a Catholic elementary school in Falls Church, Virginia, and a public high school in Fairfax County, Virginia. He graduated from the George Mason University in Fairfax County with honors in international relations and comparative religion. After graduating from George Mason University, he studied Arabic and Islamic sciences in Cairo, Egypt, Damascus, Syria, and Amman, Jordan. Benkahla also obtained an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Islamic Law and Jurisprudence at the Medina University.

Case history In the summer of 1999, he was accused of traveling to England and then buying tickets to Pakistan. It was said that he crossed the Af-Pak border into the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to train in a Lashkar-e-Tayba (LeT) training camp. It was said it was there that he learned to fire a Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK47 or AKM) and rocket propelled grenade launcher (RPG). He was charged with, "supplying services to the Taliban and using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence".

Arrest In 2003, Benkahla was seized in Saudi Arabia. His detention was associated with Ahmed Omar Abu Ali. Benkahla had completed the Islamic law curriculum and was set to graduate from Medina University. He was also taken on the night before his wedding. He was, "arrested, blindfolded, handcuffed, shackled and held in horrific conditions at behest of the FBI" and held, "incommunicado in 8 x 8 foot concrete cell while his dumbfounded family wondered why he failed to appear at his own wedding". He was then rendered back to the US by agents from the FBI while, "forced to wear opaque goggles with duct tape, shackled in a painful position, and left in a sealed pod for approximately seventeen hours".

There was a lack of evidence to show he had trained in Afghanistan or helped the Taliban.

In August and November 2004, Benkahla was subpoenaed to speak before a grand jury. Agents from the FBI were still investigating who had gone to the training camps and also military people connected to Dar al-Aqam. The FBI had also thought that Benkahla had attended the camps without checking if this is true, which meant, "over the next few months, the government compelled Benkahla to testify before each of the grand juries and to meet with the FBI several times in ancillary proceedings, with immunity from criminal prosecution for truthful testimony" but what actually happened was not made clear; and that he had said that he did not see anyone in Pakistan firing any weapons, he never fired an AK-47 or used an RPG, he was not sure he was going to Pakistan when he left London and that he only decided to go because an Abdella in London said he would show him around Pakistan.

The second count was for obstruction of justice because the prosecution people said that between August and November 2004 Benkahla, "unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly did corruptly influence, obstruct and impede, and endeavor to corruptly influence, obstruct and impede the due administration of justice by knowingly and wilfully testifying falsely and evasively" at two grand juries; But officials in the court granted downward departure of sentencing and so reduced it to 121 months, from the original which was between 210–262 months. There was an even a letter given in by Congressman Moran supporting Benkahla. Benkahla told the judge that "I'm shocked at what has happened and feel betrayed" by the rulings that led to such a stiff sentence. "They still felt they had to get Mr. Benkahla in some way, and this was the way to do it," attorney John Keats said.

Appeal On April 11, 2008, Benkahla appealed. He put forward for the Fourth Circuit to consider whether the:

second prosecution violated Double Jeopardy clause of 5th Amendment court "admitted irrelevant or unduly prejudicial evidence regarding radical Islamic terrorism" application of Section 3A1.4 violated Sixth Amendment court really had sufficient evidence to corroborate Benkahla's admissions and support the verdict

And on June 23, 2008, his appeal was decided and he lost on all counts.

Terre Haute Benkahla was taken to communications management unit (CMU) in Terre Haute, Indiana. In June 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) decided that they will fight Benkahla's being in the CMU.

Notable elements of case Below are a number of points that make the case interesting.

Procedural improprieties

Double jeopardy As shown by the defence in the Court of Appeals Benkahla was put in double jeopardy, and left the question whether the second trial broke the principle of collateral estoppel. For example, if Benkahla was found not guilty of going to military camps in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, how could it have been said that he denied attending these camps? There was no new evidence that came out after the first trial. And so he had not been found guilty in the first trial on the same evidence that was used to try to get him in the second.

Prejudicial evidence The trail brought in 'evidence' that was not balanced and not concerning Benkahla's case. This was what Evan Kohlmann brought. He talked about radical Islam and jihad in a wide way and also spoke about the Taliban, "Benkahla takes special note of a passage in which Kohlmann remarked that, for Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, "Americans, no matter where they are on earth, whether they're civilian or military, are considered to be a target. There are no innocent civilians."". was "overzealous use of Section 3A1.4, Note 2 in Benkahla indicates that the United States Sentencing Commission needs to reevaluate the obstruction of justice terrorism enhancement." because it "makes it much, much easier for government to prove that obstruction of justice convictions justify use of terrorism enhancement: in other words, "defendants who are not convicted of crimes that directly involve terrorism and are unaware that their testimony is obstructing a terrorism investigation can receive a sentence of up to 262 months of imprisonment". and upheld in the District court's statement:

"Sabri Benkahla is not a terrorist. He does not have the same characteristics of a terrorist, and share the same characteristics or the conduct of a terrorist and in turn does not share the same likelihood of recidivism, the difficulty of rehabilitation, or the need of incapacitation…Defendant has not committed any other criminal acts and there is no reason to believe he would ever commit another crime after his release from his imprisonment. Defendant has engaged in model citizenry, receiving a Master's Degree from Johns Hopkins University, volunteering as a national elections officer in local, state, and national elections. It is clear that, in the case of the instant defendant, his likelihood of ever committing another crime is infinitesimal…In fact the court received more letters on Sabri's behalf than any other defendant in twenty five years, all attesting to his honor, integrity, moral character, opposition to extremism, and devotion to civic duty."

Prison conditions Benkahla is in an isolation unit even though he has been classified as a minimum security prisoner. In June 2010 the ACLU and their Indiana branch filed a complaint challenging his confinement in (CMU) Terre Haute. The conditions he is suffering are: No contact with any visitors Limited visits: Prisoners in CMU only allowed 2 visits each month of 2 hours each Limited phone calls: "only one 15 minute non-legal call per week to a single line" Segregation: no contact with non CMU prisoners etc.