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Tag Archives: Ziyad Yaghi

Using the US Courts to Lynch Muslims: The Raleigh Terror Plot

20 Dec

For the raging ‘patriotic’ citizens of America clamouring for ever-more stringent standards to strengthen national security and win the epic war against ‘terrorism’, the case involving seven Raleigh-area men accused of various terrorism related activities, might be characterised as an utter failure. A failure not for its service of injustice to marginalised voices of America’s Muslim communities, but rather a failure because the defendants were not simply stripped and lynched off of a sturdy, North Carolina oak.

And yet, it seems as though on the other end of the spectrum, the raging patriotic citizens clamouring for ever-more stringent standards to strengthen national security without exploiting the terrorism catchphrase and sacrificing judicial integrity, are as equally dismayed.

With alarming predictability, federal agencies have bypassed constitutional provisions of guaranteeing due process and fair trials, long-standing malpractices only now codified, without the compulsory legal acrobatics, in the NDAA (National Defence Authorization Act). Over a decade’s worth of terrorism trials have taught the American government how to sustain the pretense of upholding law while simultaneously dismantling it.

From its informant ridden inception, the Raleigh case was no different, unapologetically brandishing the hallmarks of a federally manipulated and self-congratulatory conviction. Even before trial, a strategic assortment of media scaremongering, lengthy pre-trial detentions and threats of life sentences secured at least three guilty pleas and potentially damning testimony despite an overwhelming lack of evidence pointing to any crime after 750 hours of video and audio surveillance. The addition of an indifferent and narcoleptic jury with ties to the world’s most powerful military was pure luck; serendipitous icing on the government’s statistical cake.

All said and done, the four defendants who stubbornly maintained their innocence, were generously rewarded for their integrity with heavy sentences ranging from 15 to 45 years in Supermax prisons (whose harsh policies of solitary confinement have been internationally reviewed by human rights groups to be inhumane and a form of torture). One of these defendants was the 24 year old Ziyad Yaghi, who, like his co-defendants, was incriminated by mere circumstances that you, the reader, should beware of.

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Posted by on December 20, 2012 in Campaigns, News Items

 

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Sign and Circulate the Petition to Stop Ziyad Yaghi’s Wrongful Imprisonment

21 May

Please Sign the Petition for Ziyad Yaghi’s case to be discussed in the House of Representatives HERE. 


What happened?

In January 2012, Ziyad Yaghi was sentenced to 31 and a half years in prison for unfounded accusations of terrorism. Ziyad never broke any law, never hurt anyone, nor did he ever plan to do so. He has been swept up in the federal government’s efforts to appear as though it is really fighting terrorism.

His trial was unfair even before it started, having spent two years in jail before even going to court and having outrageous stories about ‘dangerous’ men circulated in the media. His trip to Jordan and Egypt to visit family and get married was used against him when the government claimed the trip was something sinister without even offering any proof. After tons of recordings and videos, the government did not even have a single recorded moment with Ziyad, and to top it off, the confessed ‘ring leader’ himself admitted that Ziyad was never part of any ‘conspiracy.’

It didn’t matter that Ziyad never did anything wrong because prosecutors were allowed to show irrelevant videos depicting violence to a jury who, like most folks from suburban North Carolina, already had a negative idea about Muslims and Islam. And now, Ziyad has to spend the next thirty years in prison.

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Posted by on May 21, 2012 in Campaigns

 

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america

03 May

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Let it be documented in history
Every shameful act
Every bit of racism
That America has

Let every eye that cried
And every tear that dropped
Be documented on your shameful pages

Let every sigh of oppression
Every exhale of depression
That America caused
Mingle with high winds
And twirl around
Sweeping everything in its path

america never was I proud of you
My country
With your many shameful acts
Your lynching, your sadistic control
Beyond reason
Your inequality in religion and race
Your double standards in freedom of speech

america
Every tree that grew on your land
Was watered from evaporated tears

And your eagles that soar high in the sky
Resting on your magnificent mountains
Mumble words of disappointment
And burry their faces from disgrace

And your stars that are embedded
On your flag
March with no dignity at night

america
You have done so much injustice in your land
Uncivilized acts of discrimination
Targeting Muslims
Treating them in such inhumane ways
As if you swore on
INEQUALITY we stand

The abuse of your power has gone too far
Innocent young Muslims
Lie all day staring at the ceiling
In a 6x9foot cells

I DIE…. I DIE
I die many times at night
My soul rises from grief
To be returned in the morning
Still in shock
What america
My own country has done
To my INNOCENT SON
And a million more
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By ©Laila Yaghi©

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Find out more here about Ziyad Yaghi’s case and what you can do to help a mother and son and others like them in their struggle for justice.

 
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Posted by on May 3, 2012 in Collateral Damage, Poems by Laila Yaghi

 

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A Mother’s Words: Laila Yaghi Speaks About Her Son’s Case & Current Situation

30 Apr

Listen to Laila yaghi speaking at an event presented by the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms, held in the Beloved Community Center in Greensboro, NC on April 12, 2012. Filmed by Friends of Human Rights.

Laila Yaghi, mother of Ziyad Yaghi, speaks about her son’s current situation after his conviction and sentence of thirty-two years. She describes the FBI harassment she and her son have experienced and continued to experience as he was pressured, threatened and coerced in the FBI’s attempts to recruit him as an informant and later to cause him to to testify against others.

His refusal to comply, to lie, and become an informant earned him the ire of the FBI and Federal Prosecutors and so he now sits in solitary confinement with a thirty-two year sentence, when not a single shred of evidence was presented showing that any crime had been committed or attempted. What then was his crime except that he was steadfast against being used to harm and oppress others?

Find out more here about Ziyad’s case and situation and what you can do to help right this wrong and help a mother and son find peace and justice.

 
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Posted by on April 30, 2012 in Collateral Damage, Videos

 

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Our Brother Ziyad Needs Our Help!

23 Apr

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”

-Desmond Tutu

What happened?

In January 2012, Ziyad Yaghi was sentenced to 31 and a half years in prison for unfounded accusations of terrorism. Ziyad never broke any law, never hurt anyone, nor did he ever plan to do so. He has been swept up in the federal government’s efforts to appear as though it is really fighting terrorism.

His trial was unfair even before it started, having spent two years in jail before even going to court and having outrageous stories about ‘dangerous’ men circulated in the media. His trip to Jordan and Egypt to visit family and get married was used against him when the government claimed the trip was something sinister without even offering any proof. After tons of recordings and videos, the government did not even have a single recorded moment with Ziyad, and to top it off, the confessed ‘ring leader’ himself admitted that Ziyad was never part of any ‘conspiracy.’

It didn’t matter that Ziyad never did anything wrong because prosecutors were allowed to show irrelevant videos depicting violence to a jury who, like most folks from suburban North Carolina, already had a negative idea about Muslims and Islam. And now, Ziyad has to spend the next thirty years in prison.

What’s next?


The truth is that Ziyad and many others are innocent and have been targetted for being Muslim. They should not spend another day in prison, much less the hellish supermax prisons under torturous conditions.

We have a chance to stop this injustice against Ziyad by helping him hire a lawyer for an appeal. His family needs to raise $50,000 to retain a profession legal defense team to appeal the unjust verdict and become free!

What can we do?

Take action to secure our freedoms:

  • Share Ziyad’s story with your friends and family. The more people that know, the more likely they will be willing to take action against injustice. Stay current by joining the facebook group and following the blog.
  • Let Ziyad and his family know that you support their fight against injustice. Write to him at:
    Ziyad Yaghi #51771-056 
USP Coleman II 
P.O. Box 1034 Coleman, 
FL 33521 USA
  • Donate to Ziyad’s Legal Fund or suggest a skilled lawyer that will take up the appeal pro-bono. If you wish to send funds directly, please contact Laila Yaghi for a direct address.
  • Sign the petition to free Ziyad and this petition to stop torture and solitary confinement.
  • Write a letter to your federal, state and local representatives to express your outrage and demand a stop to preemptive prosecutions, profiling, and entrapment. Sample letter from Project SALAM found here.
  • Speak out against the injustices and discriminatory practices that are going on against Muslims people and the unfair targeting of the FBI towards Muslims.
  • Don’t vote for Presidents/Congressmen who encourage this type of discrimination or who remain silent while these injustices are taking place under their terms.

Why should we do this?

Ziyad’s appeal is not just about him and his family ending this nightmare; it’s about you too. If a decent bunch of lawyers can prove the truth about Ziyad’s innocence, then we all have a chance to believe that the rest of us will not also be persecuted for being Muslim.

 
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Posted by on April 23, 2012 in Campaigns

 

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Muslims Face Life In Prison for Crimes the US Government Cannot Even Articulate With Acuity

12 Jan

A trip to the Middle East made by Ziyad Yaghi (left) and Omar Aly Hassan was the focus of terrorism-related charges against the two North Carolina men.

This Friday 23-year-old Ziyad Yaghi and his co-defendant, Omar Aly Hassan, also 23, both convicted terrorism-related charges, will be handed down sentences for conspiring to provide material support to unspecified terrorists and, in the case of Yaghi, conspiring to harm unspecified persons abroad.

The case, which seems to be largely off the radar for major civil liberties groups and national Arab and Muslim organizations, raises questions about the use of preemptive prosecution to get convictions in the vast majority of domestic terrorism cases. The government’s case also largely focuses on speech made by the defendants, and rests on the testimony of paid undercover informants.

Conspiracy against unknown persons in an uknown place at an unknown time

The US government alleges that Yaghi and Hassan conspired with alleged ringleader Daniel Patrick Boyd to provide material support to an unspecified group of terrorists in an unspecified place at an unspecified time. They were also indicted — and Yaghi convicted — for conspiracy to kidnap, kill, maim or harm an unspecified group of people in an unspecified place at an unspecified time.

The US government alleged in a 2009 indictment that Yaghi and Hassan traveled to Israel in 2007 to meet up with Boyd and one of Boyd’s sons, Zakariya, for the purpose of waging “jihad” — what that specifically entailed was not detailed in the indictment.

After the Israeli government denied entry to all four men, Yaghi and Hassan traveled to Jordan and later Egypt. The Boyds traveled to Jordan, where they were met by Daniel Boyd’s other son, Dylan, but did not meet with Yaghi and Hassan there.

Upon their return to the United States approximately one month later, Yaghi and Hassan apparently ceased contact with the Boyd family.

During the men’s trial last September, an FBI agent admitted upon cross-examination by Hassan’s attorney that the government had no evidence of contact between Hassan and Boyd after the 2007 trip.

Dylan Boyd, who testified for the prosecution as part of a plea agreement, told the FBI in an interview that he “hadn’t seen or spoken to Yaghi and Hassan since the 2007 trip.”

It was revealed during the trial that the Boyd family had been under surveillance since 2005, and Yaghi and Hassan had been monitored starting around the time of their 2007 trip.
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Posted by on January 12, 2012 in News Items

 

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A Letter from Laila Yaghi (2009)

27 Dec


Ziyad Yaghi is a 22 year old American Muslim of Palestinian descent who was born in Jordan after his parents left Upstate N.Y for a job overseas. Ziyad and his parents then came back to Upstate N.Y when he was about 2 years old. When Ziyad was about 3 years old, he moved to NC with his mother and brother.

Ziyad is known as a kind and gentle person by family, friends and colleagues. He is always giving money to the homeless and to anyone that asks him for money, Ziyad will give him or her the last dollar in his pocket. The FBI and media have tried to depict my son as someone evil when in reality he’s soft, gentle and caring. He sticks his neck out for his friends and is always helping people in need.

My son is a now a victim of the FBI’s oppression.

About two years ago (2007) when Ziyad was only 19, he and his friend went overseas to his home country (Jordan) and from there, he and his friend also visited Egypt and had a wonderful time and then came back to the US. Soon after their trip overseas, the FBI was knocking on my door and asking me questions. When Ziyad and his friend came back, they were constantly harassed and watched by the FBI.

Before Ziyad and his friend went to Jordan they knew a specific person of interest to the FBI for a short while, then when they came back and had no contact with this person, the FBI continued to harass my son and his friend and they tried to pressure them to say something, even though Ziyad and his friend had nothing to say. Both boys insisted that they didn’t know anything personal about the person the FBI were conducting an investigation on and couldn’t understand what the FBI was looking for!

Two years later (2009), a simple fight broke between the boys and one of the friends of Ziyad The FBI made it sound so horrendous and tried to charge Ziyad and his friend with many things and threw them in jail. The FBI came once more to my door and asked me more questions and then one of them told me that he wants the boys in jail because he wants them to feel more pressured so that they will tell them something about the individual the FBI have been inquiring about earlier. Again that same name was mentioned and the boys stayed in jail almost four months and when the FBI found that there is nothing against these boys that could prove what they were looking for, my son and his friend were released.

After two months, when my son had cleaned the apartment for me and was about to cook, he went to the pool for a short swim, the FBI came with a swat team and arrested my son with new charges! The charges were so absurd! Ziyad and his friend were charged with conspiring to kill and maim people abroad! The FBI two days later came to my apartment to give me my son’s swimming shorts and told me that they think Ziyad knows something about the person they’ve been inquiring about from the beginning and that “Ziyad is not telling us and that he needs to cooperate with us!”

Interestingly, one of the FBI officers told me and some of Ziyad’s friends that he is trying to get promoted. So can you see how the FBI works? They take innocent people from their homes and throw them in jail for no wrong doing? Where is the justice here? Why would my son be taken away for no reason? I cannot explain the pain I’ve been feeling since July (of 2009) and I’ve been in deep depression crying all the time because of the injustice done to my son and many other Muslims in America.

We are a normal American family. This is outrageous! We are only being targeted because we are Muslims. We have done nothing wrong! Nothing wrong! Ziyad has a kind heart; he is someone that refuses to kill ants so how is he going to kill humans?

Please Support Ziyad and take a step in bringing an end to the Oppression done to my Son and many others. Silence is not an option in helping the oppressed, rather is it merely defeatism. We NEED to speak out and take ACTION to end these nightmares.

Yours respectfully,
Laila Yaghi

Help dry the tears of a mother and do what you can for the
Ziyad Yaghi Letter Capaign
(Act Now BEFORE 13 January Sentencing)
Please Send Your Letters Today!!
& Take A Moment to Sign the Petition.
And do not forget him & his family in your dua.
 
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Posted by on December 27, 2011 in Campaigns, Collateral Damage, Writings from Laila Yaghi

 

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We Try to Stand

25 Dec

Sometimes we fall
Slam hard onto the ground
From the pangs of life
And for every drop of tear
And every piercing scream
There is an eye that is watching
From afar
Many times we experience injustice
That makes one convulse from pain
But we forget that there is only
One who controls all affairs
The Judge of all the judges
And hence He is the All Knowing
And All Seeing
He can see the injustices that are going on
He is capable of flipping the world upside down
In a blink of an eye
Just as the heavens and earth were created
In the utmost fashion and design
And how the day and the night
Alternate
Mathematically with no mistake
Coupled with a magnificent sun
And a glorious moon
Stars that spread across a darkened sky
Know that there is no mistake
That there is a higher being
Thus called the Almighty God
A perfection of creation
No man can simulate

Justice is a virtue
That my country no longer holds

Don’t rely on humans
They will ultimately fail you
Grandness will over take them

Distraught by grievance one might forget
And turn to humans who ultimately misunderstand
I cry the tears of Jacob
But am always judged
Every tear that drops
Does not go unnoticed by God
So to God only complain
Cause he won’t turn away
He is The Patient
The Majestic, The Loving, The All Knowing
And Wise

By Laila Yaghi the Mother of Ziyad Yaghi 

_______

Help dry the tears of a mother and do what you can for the
Ziyad Yaghi Letter Capaign
(Act Now BEFORE 13 January Sentencing)

Please Send Your Letters Today!!
& Take A Moment to Sign the Petition.

And do not forget him & his family in your dua.


 
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Posted by on December 25, 2011 in Collateral Damage, Poems by Laila Yaghi

 

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Action Alert: Ziyad Yaghi Letter Campaign (Act Now BEFORE 13 January Sentencing)

15 Dec

A Few Minutes of Your Time May Help Save Him from a Life in Prison…

Take a moment to give a gift to a Muslim mother and her family by writing your own letter of support for Ziyad Yaghi and collecting letters of support from others in your community. May Allah Reward you for standing in solidarity with a suffering mother for justice.

Ziyad Yaghi a young Muslim man from Raleigh, NC of Palestine descent has been convicted and is facing his sentencing on two counts of conspiracy and attempt to provide material support to foreign terrorist organizations. He has committed NO physical acts of violence, and yet is facing life in prison, for accusations that he had intentions to commit acts based primarily upon his traveling to visit family in the Middle-East and visiting the lands of his forefathers, he has essentially been found guilty of “thought crimes”. Ziyad Yaghi is scheduled to be sentenced on 13 January, 2012.

Ziyad faces life in prison for crimes he did NOT, in fact, commit. Ziyad will never get out to see his family, get married, complete his education, or do anything for that matter. An innocent young man will be imprisoned for committing no crimes save those imagined by an increasingly Orwellian government.

Actions Required:

  • Inform your Community, friends, family and spread awareness about the case of Ziyad Yaghi and the request of his family to write a letter on his behalf BEFORE the 13 January, 2012 Sentencing hearing.
  • Write a letter to the Judge Louise W. Flanagan.
  • Print Sample Letters & collect signatures from individuals in your community.
  • Write to Ziyad Yaghi and let him know that you are aware of his situation and that he and his family are in your Du’a and that he is not alone or forgotten.
  • Write to or show a sign of support for Laila Yaghi the mother of Ziyad.
  • Sign the Free Ziyad Yaghi Online Petition
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Posted by on December 15, 2011 in Campaigns

 

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Laila Yaghi On the Conviction of Her Son Ziyad & Impending Sentencing

24 Nov

Laila Yaghi talks about the recent conviction of her son, Ziyad, for material support of terrorism and conspiracy to main and murder people overseas. There were no charges of committing violence, yet Ziyad faces a possible life in prison. The interviewer is Mel Underbakke, the Film by Friends of Human Rights.

 

 

You can also show your Solidarity with Your Brother & let him know he has your Support by writing him at:

Ziyad Yaghi (INMATE)
Western Tidewater Regional Jail
2402 Godwin Blvd
Suffolk, VA 0
USA

And do not forget him & his family in your du’a.

 
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Posted by on November 24, 2011 in Collateral Damage, Videos

 

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