BK College grad awaits trial in terror case

When Gallatin fifth-year undergraduate Ara Cho started working for a criminal defense lawyer a year ago, she assumed she would only be working on homicide cases.

Reflecting on her job recently, she said, "I had no idea what I was in for."

Cho's boss, Sean Maher, is defending Syed "Fahad" Hashmi, a 29-year-old Pakistani-born American. Hashmi is the first U.S. citizen to be extradited from the United Kingdom on terrorism charges; he was charged with four counts of conspiring to provide material support and services to al-Qaida.

After graduating from Brooklyn College in 2003, Hashmi moved to London to pursue a master's degree in international relations.

In early 2004, Hashmi's friend Junaid Babar stayed in his London apartment for about two weeks. In March 2004, after staying with Hashmi, Babar was arrested by the FBI and pleaded guilty to five counts of material support for al-Qaida.

According to Cho, Hashmi said that at the time he had no knowledge that Babar, also a U.S. citizen, was a terrorist. The U.S. government alleges that Babar borrowed Hashmi's cell phone to contact a member of a terrorist organization. Babar also allegedly stored luggage containing ponchos and raincoats while staying with Hashmi and then delivered the items to a third-ranking member of al-Qaida in Pakistan.

After his arrest, Babar agreed to be an FBI informant and testified against Hashmi, who Babard said was a terrorist.

On June 6, 2006, Hashmi was arrested in the London Heathrow Airport by British police based on a U.S. warrant. He has been imprisoned in the Metropolitan Correctional Center since May 2007.

During his detention, authorities subjected Hashmi to solitary confinement under a type of security called "special administrative measures" or SAMs.

After Hashmi was found practicing martial arts in his cell, a judge extended his solitary confinement by 12 months, citing Hashmi's practicing as "proclivity for violence."

"Each day, he is only allowed one hour out of his cell to exercise inside a solitary cage," Cho said.

SAMs, established in 1996, were originally intended for use on very dangerous inmates — such as mob bosses.

"The strict measures placed on Hashmi are misleading, because they make it seem like he's already guilty before the trial has even happened," Cho said.

Jeanne Theoharis was one of Hashmi's professors at Brooklyn College.

"He was very outspoken and would often debate about how Muslims were treated domestically and abroad," Theoharis said.

Cho said that during pretrial hearings, prosecution focused on Hashmi's political statements and his past involvement with al-Muhajiroun, a radical Muslim organization.

Theoharis said Hashmi should not be punished for speaking his mind.

"Under the first amendment, we are allowed to make oppositional political statements." Theoharis said. "But if Hashmi is going to be convicted because he was an activist who voiced his political beliefs, then isn't the prosecution criminalizing political speech?"

Ellen Schrecker, an American history professor at Yeshiva University, is testifying in the trial. Schrecker agreed that in cases like Hashmi's, the government might use criminal process to suppress political dissent.

Hashmi's trial will take place on Dec. 1. If convicted, he will face 70 years in prison, Cho said.

She added: "I personally don't think the outcome will be in our favor, but I'm glad that Fahad is maintaining his innocence."