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BY MELANIE COFFEE
Associated Press Writer | Thursday, March 25, 2004 | (No comments posted.)
CHICAGO (AP) -- Attorneys for a Palestinian activist jailed for refusing to testify before a grand jury investigating the militant group Hamas said Wednesday they intend to argue the man suffers from a mental disease or defect.
Abdelhaleem Hasan Abdelraziq Ashqar of Alexandria, Va., was indicted on charges of criminal contempt after he refused to testify before a grand jury investigating fund-raising activities on behalf of Hamas.
Prosecutors have said that among other things they want to talk to Ashqar about whether he is a member of Hamas, which the government has declared a terrorist organization.
Ashqar's attorney, Michael Kennedy, told the court Ashqar might not have the mental ability to knowingly and willingly violate the court order to testify.
Kennedy said Ashqar had not received a psychiatric evaluation but that one would take place soon.
"He's incapable of complying with the court order to give testimony," Kennedy said after the hearing.
Prosecutors would not comment on the defense's claims.
Ashqar surrendered to authorities on Sept. 5 to start serving a civil contempt sentence for refusing to testify before the grand jury despite a grant of immunity, officials said. The former business professor at Howard University in Washington now faces criminal contempt charges that could keep him behind bars for years.
While in jail Ashqar went on a hunger strike, losing about 35 pounds. He has said he was protesting the way he was treated by the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office.
Ashqar has acknowledged that he refused to testify before the grand jury after receiving immunity from prosecution for anything he might admit, but he said that doesn't necessarily mean he is guilty of a crime.
Hamas was declared a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel in 1995.
Chicago has been a center of charitable fund-raising for Muslim causes, and prosecutors have shut down a number of such charities they say have been used to funnel cash to Hamas as well as Osama bin Laden's network.
The grand jury has long been investigating Hamas and has stepped up its investigation of the militant Palestinian group since Sept. 11, 2001. Although the jury's activities are secret, attorneys say a number of witnesses have been called to testify as federal prosecutors seek to turn off the pipeline of money from Chicago to terrorists in the Mideast.
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