In the US, we're all supposed to be entitled to a day in court and
that day is supposed to be a fair day where everyone plays by the rules
and where the government is accountable. In reality, when the
government can't win, it tries to get away with lying, with withholding
evidence and with replacing justices to get the ruling that they want.
It's outrageous and shame on anyone turning to look the other way right
now.
Omar Ameen is an Iraqi refugee. He came to the US
in November of 2014. From Salt Lake City, he moves to California --
specifically to Sacramento. In mid-2018, an Iraqi 'court' issues an
arrest warrant for him. Based on a paid informant, he is accused of
having killed a police officer, Ihsan Jasi who was shot June 22, 2014
and died of gunshot wounds a day later. The unnamed, paid informant
told police he didn't see the shooting but knew Omar was the shooting.
Then, much later, changed his testimony to include he saw it. August
15, 2019, Omar is arrested in Sacramento. His attorney, Rachelle
Barbour, declares, "As the extradition
packet makes clear, the Iraqi charge is based on the statement of a
single purported eyewitness to the alleged murder. That witness's
statement, given in April 2018 to the Iraqi court, is both internally
inconsistent and extensively contradicted by that witness's earlier
statement taken in October 2017 by the FBI." In addition, Omar moved to
Turkey in 2012 and various data -- including pings from cell phone
towers -- demonstrate he was in Turkey the day of the shooting in Iraq.
In
the face of this and other problems with the case (the US government
claims multiple witnesses to the shooting but can't produce them), US
federal judge Edmund Brennan finds the cell phone evidence "critical"
and declares the US government should release Omar immediately.
April 24th, Sam Stanton (SACREMENTO BEE) reports:
In a major blow to federal prosecutors, a federal judge in Sacramento ruled Wednesday that Omar Ameen may not be extradited back to Iraq to face trial in the 2014 murder of an Iraqi police officer.
The
decision came in a 30-page order by U.S. Magistrate Judge Edmund F.
Brennan, who labeled parts of the government’s arguments “dubious” and
said they call for “some degree of skepticism.”
Ameen’s federal defenders had waged a two-year battle
to stop their client from being extradited, arguing that he was in
Turkey with his family when the officer, Ihsan Abdulhafiz Jasim, was
killed in Iraq.
Read more here: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article250841694.html#storylink=cpy
Ordered
to release him, they do but the US government doesn't follow the law --
certainly not the spirit or a judicial ruling. Meaning? They release
Omar from federal custody only to . . . turn him over to ICE
(Immigration and Custom Enforcement) -- willfully disregarding the
ruling and continue their efforts to deport Omar back to Iraq.
Whether
Donald Trump heads the Executive Branch or Joe Biden does, they do what
they want, they rig the game while pretending it's fair. Another
example? They toss out the immigration judge when he's not predisposed
to ignore evidence.
KCRA reported earlier this month:
Sources told KCRA 3 Investigates that immigration Judge Scott
Laurent, after weeks of hearings and testimony in the deportation case,
is no longer the judge in the case.
The removal comes just two
weeks after Laurent issued an order that was, in part, critical of the
government’s case against Ameen.
In particular, Laurent was critical of the Department of Justice for
wanting FBI agents to testify for the government, but not be
cross-examined by Ameen’s attorneys.
Unlike a criminal court, immigration judges work for the Department of Justice, which is the agency looking to deport Ameen.
CAIR Tweets:
Omar Ameen came to this country as a refugee from Iraq. He was unjustly arrested based on dubious and questionable evidence that has never been made public. Yesterday, our Sacramento Valley branch filed a motion to unseal that evidence.
#FreeOmarAmeen
Crescenzo Vellucci (DAVIS VANGUARD) reports:
The strange case of Iraqi refugee Omar Ameen and the U.S.
government’s insistence of extraditing him – from Trump to Biden –
continues. And as the saying goes, is becoming “curiouser and
curiouser.”
Ahead of Ameen’s much-delayed federal immigration hearing next
Tuesday, the Sacramento / Central California office of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SV/CC) filed a motion Thursday
suggesting there is a hidden piece of evidence in the case of the
Sacramento area resident the U.S. government is, in fact, hiding.
CAIR notes Ameen was arrested in August of 2018 by ICE based on a
“sealed” exhibit. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Edmund Brennan, a former
prosecutor, relied on the same document to prevent Ameen’s extradition
to the Iraq for the alleged murder of an Iraqi police officer earlier
this year.
CAIR argues that, according to Judge Brennan, “the government’s case
was ‘dubious;’ its witnesses were ‘unreliable;’ and the narrative
presented made ‘little sense.’ In other words, Judge Brennan found that
there was no plausible way that Omar Ameen could have committed
the murder for which he stood accused. Despite that ruling, Ameen was
not released and was instead taken into ICE custody.”
Here's CAIR's statement:
[. . .] CAIR-SV/CC filed a motion to unseal an important piece of evidence in
the case of Sacramento area resident, father of four, and Iraqi refugee
Omar Ameen.
On August 15, 2018, Ameen was searched and arrested based on that
sealed exhibit, and nearly three years later U.S. Magistrate Judge
Brennan relied on that same document in his Order denying Ameen’s
extradition to the Republic of Iraq for the crime of murder of an Iraqi
police officer.
According to Judge Brennan, the government’s case was “dubious;” its
witnesses were “unreliable;” and the narrative presented made “little
sense.” In other words, Judge Brennan found that there was no plausible
way that Omar Ameen could have committed the murder for which he stood
accused. Despite that ruling, Ameen was not released and was instead
taken into ICE custody.
Layli Shirani, Senior Staff Attorney for Civil Rights at CAIR-SV/CC, said in a statement:
“We have a strong interest in knowing what evidence the
government relied upon in disrupting the lives of Omar and his family.
Being accepted into the United States as a refugee is hard – the vetting
process is extensive and takes a long time. It’s also important to note
that this goes beyond Omar Ameen and the considerable harm that has
been done – and is still being done – to him and his family.
“This case, which was specifically cited by the Trump
Administration in their effort to gut the Refugee Program, represents
just one prong in that Administration’s overtly Islamophobic agenda. The
Muslim Ban was another. Given the Biden Administration has chosen to
allow deportation proceedings against Omar to continue despite his
exoneration, we must remain vigilant.
“This sealed exhibit was central to the Judge’s order refusing to
extradite Omar Ameen. To fully understand that Order, and the actions
of the Government in this case, we are asking the Court to unseal that
exhibit.”
CAIR-SV/CC is an office of CAIR, the largest Muslim civil
liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance
understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and
empower American Muslims.
END
CONTACT: CAIR-SV/CC Communications Manager Zoha Raza, zraza@cair.com
Omar
has been imprisoned for over 1300 days. His life has been destroyed.
Time and again, the justice system has sided against the Executive
Branch in Omar's case. He should have been freed long ago. The US
government refuses to abide by the rules and continues to persecute
Omar. This is outrageous and it should be loudly and widely rebuked.
If you really care about immigration, then you care about what's being
done to Omar by our government.
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