https://socialistaction.org/2016/09/05/new-ruling-in-case-of-palestinian-activist-rasmea-odeh/
Court issues new ruling in case of Palestinian rights activist Rasmea Odeh
/ 19 hours ago
Rasmea Odeh
Rasmea Odeh listens to supporters after leaving federal court in Detroit
Thursday, March 12, 2015. A judge sentenced the Chicago activist to 18
months in federal prison Thursday for failing to disclose her
convictions for bombings in Israel when she applied to be a U.S.
citizen. Odeh, 67, also was stripped of her citizenship and eventually
will be deported. But she will remain free while she appeals the case.
(AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
By MARK UGOLINI
— CHICAGO — On Aug. 29, the defense case of 69-year-old Palestinian
rights activist Rasmea Odeh took an unexpected and potentially ominous
turn when presiding Federal Judge Gershwin Drain ruled that Odeh will be
subjected to up to 18 hours of intensive psychological testing by an
appointed government forensic examiner whose job is to undermine her
legal defense and bolster the prosecution case.
A prominent figure in the Palestinian national liberation movement, Odeh
was wrongly convicted in 2014 of immigration fraud for failing to
disclose a conviction by an Israeli military court more than 40 years
ago. She was later sentenced to 18 months in prison, her U.S.
citizenship was revoked, and deportation to Jordan was ordered.
In 2015 Odeh appealed her conviction, charging that Judge Drain had
issued rulings that blocked her from presenting her case. She and her
legal team have effectively argued that the charges against her were
politically motivated; and in February 2016, Odeh won an important
victory when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated her immigration
fraud conviction. The court ruled that Judge Drain was wrong in his
handling of the case, especially his refusal to allow the defense to
present medical evidence that Odeh had suffered from Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Odeh suffered from PTSD during interrogations in which she was accused
of intentionally deceiving immigration authorities of her unlawful
conviction and imprisonment while under Israeli occupation.
Through multiple rulings favorable to the prosecution during the trial,
Odeh was prevented from telling her story. While a political prisoner
under Israeli occupation in 1969, after being subjected to over three
weeks of brutal sexual, physical, and psychological torture, she was
coerced by the Israeli military into a false confession of involvement
in Jerusalem bombings.
The Aug. 29 decision by Judge Drain to subject Odeh to new psychological
interrogation allows the prosecution an attempt to discredit the
detailed evaluation already conducted by noted clinical psychologist
Mary Fabri, an expert with an extensive background in treating victims
of torture. After an extensive examination of Odeh, Fabri concluded that
her PTSD could have prevented her from recalling many important details
while under questioning of Israeli and immigration authorities.
Michael Deutsch, lead defense attorney for Odeh, reacted to Judge
Drain’s decision: “While Rasmea has become the most famous target of a
political trial in the U.S. today, she has always avoided discussion of
the crimes committed against her in that Israeli prison in 1969. The
government case against Rasmea is based on the word of her Israeli
captors, and yet at every turn, Judge Drain has denied her defense the
right to challenge those statements in his courtroom. Once again, his
latest decision favors the prosecution’s endless attempts to cover up
the crimes of Israel against Rasmea.”
Judge Drain also cancelled a scheduled Sept. 22 hearing at the Detroit
courthouse, where the Rasmea Defense Committee had been planning a rally
of supporters from throughout the Midwest.
Nesreen Hasan of U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) told
Palestine America: “It’s unfortunate that the judge sided with the
prosecution, but we’re still going to fight. … [I’m] concerned for the
health of Rasmea because the psychological evaluation will be a
triggering process. The ruling just goes to show that the prosecution
doesn’t care about her health and doesn’t care that they are causing her
to relive her trauma.”
The government’s legal offensive represents a political attack on Rasmea
Odeh and the broader movement for Palestinian rights. “The case against
Rasmea is a thinly veiled political prosecution,” said Dima Khalidi,
director of Palestine Legal. “And the Appeals Court’s decision to send
the case back confirms that the District Court inappropriately excluded
expert testimony about the trauma Rasmea continues to endure from the
torture she suffered while in Israeli prison. … Judge Drain’s latest
ruling, allowing the government to put her through hours of
interrogation from a hostile government expert, could enable him to
again exclude this testimony, and thereby affirm the previous conviction
against Rasmea. The prosecution has stopped at nothing to keep the fact
of Israel’s well-documented torture practices from consideration in
Rasmea’s case, and it’s clear that they are intent on continuing to
victimize her, and shielding Israel from scrutiny.”
Rasmea Odeh’s case in the U.S. is closely linked to the fate of
Palestinian prisoners and detainees currently under Israeli military
occupation. B’Tselem reports that as of the end of April 2016 nearly
6300 security detainees and prisoners were held in Israeli prisons.
USPCN, the Rasmea Defense Committee, and other supporters of Palestinian
rights will be mobilizing throughout the Midwest to protest outside the
court hearing in Detroit on Nov. 29, when government prosecutors will be
challenging the expert defense testimony.
In a statement released this week, Jeff Mackler, Socialist Action
candidate for U.S. President expressed full support for Rasmea: “The
continued prosecution of Rasmea Odeh is an outrage for all who oppose
political repression and defend democratic rights. We stand up for
Rasmea and all Palestinian political activists and prisoners under
continuous assault by the Zionist Israeli state and the U.S. government.
We support and join in building the protest in Detroit on Nov. 29 to
drop all charges against Rasmea.
Our job as supporters of Palestinian rights in the U.S. is to mobilize
to demand freedom for Rasmea Odeh, and beyond that, to direct our fire
against massive U.S. military support, over $3 billion per year, to the
racist, apartheid state of Israel, a state built and maintained on the
brutal colonial oppression of the Palestinian people. We demand
self-determination for Palestine. End All U.S. aid to apartheid Israel!
For a democratic, secular Palestine. with the right of all Palestinian
refugees to return!”
——————
.
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September 5, 2016 in Anti-War, Middle East, Immigration, Palestine, Vote
Socialist Action.
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Justice for Rasmea Odeh!
Rasmea Odeh found guilty
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