LiberalNation
03-07-2007, 09:51 PM
Never understood starving yourself in protest. Still they shouldn't be force fed let them starve themselves if they wish and are in their right minds.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070308/ap_on_re_us/attacks_professor;_ylt=AlkscBnFp1trjjbmUuCjPx9vzwc F
RALEIGH, N.C. - Prison workers soon might force feed a former university professor who has been on a hunger strike for six weeks to protest his imprisonment for refusing to testify about Palestinian charities, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Sami al-Arian, a Palestinian who taught computer science at the University of South Florida, stopped eating Jan. 22 in objection to a judge's decision to hold him indefinitely because he refused to testify before a grand jury.
He has lost more than 40 pounds on his water-only diet and is so weak that he needs a wheelchair, said his wife, Nahla al-Arian.
"His health is really deteriorating," she said. "We are really worried that there will be permanent damage."
Officials at the Federal Medical Center in Butner have told al-Arian they will begin force feeding if his condition worsens, said his lawyer, Peter Erlinder.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has a hunger strike protocol that requires the medical staff to record the inmate's weight and vital signs once each day, according to the bureau's Web site.
If the staff determines that involuntary feeding is necessary, the protocol recommends feeding the person with tubes through the nose.
"It's an invasive procedure, and there's some danger of injury," Erlinder said. "We're hopeful that that there can be resolution before that."
Prosecutors labeled al-Arian a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which the U.S. calls a terrorist organization, but his six-month trial in 2005 ended in an acquittal on some counts and a hung jury on others.
In a plea bargain last April, al-Arian admitted conspiring to aid Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, minus credit for the time he had served.
Al-Arian and his lawyers contend the plea deal exempts him from testifying before a grand jury that is investigating a cluster of Islamic charities in northern Virginia.
U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. in Tampa, Fla., disagreed, finding al-Arian in contempt and extending his prison sentence by 18 months. The judge will review al-Arian's status every six months and could extend al-Arian's sentence until he cooperates.
Federal prison officials declined to discuss al-Arian's health.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070308/ap_on_re_us/attacks_professor;_ylt=AlkscBnFp1trjjbmUuCjPx9vzwc F
RALEIGH, N.C. - Prison workers soon might force feed a former university professor who has been on a hunger strike for six weeks to protest his imprisonment for refusing to testify about Palestinian charities, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Sami al-Arian, a Palestinian who taught computer science at the University of South Florida, stopped eating Jan. 22 in objection to a judge's decision to hold him indefinitely because he refused to testify before a grand jury.
He has lost more than 40 pounds on his water-only diet and is so weak that he needs a wheelchair, said his wife, Nahla al-Arian.
"His health is really deteriorating," she said. "We are really worried that there will be permanent damage."
Officials at the Federal Medical Center in Butner have told al-Arian they will begin force feeding if his condition worsens, said his lawyer, Peter Erlinder.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons has a hunger strike protocol that requires the medical staff to record the inmate's weight and vital signs once each day, according to the bureau's Web site.
If the staff determines that involuntary feeding is necessary, the protocol recommends feeding the person with tubes through the nose.
"It's an invasive procedure, and there's some danger of injury," Erlinder said. "We're hopeful that that there can be resolution before that."
Prosecutors labeled al-Arian a leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which the U.S. calls a terrorist organization, but his six-month trial in 2005 ended in an acquittal on some counts and a hung jury on others.
In a plea bargain last April, al-Arian admitted conspiring to aid Palestinian Islamic Jihad and was sentenced to nearly five years in prison, minus credit for the time he had served.
Al-Arian and his lawyers contend the plea deal exempts him from testifying before a grand jury that is investigating a cluster of Islamic charities in northern Virginia.
U.S. District Judge James S. Moody Jr. in Tampa, Fla., disagreed, finding al-Arian in contempt and extending his prison sentence by 18 months. The judge will review al-Arian's status every six months and could extend al-Arian's sentence until he cooperates.
Federal prison officials declined to discuss al-Arian's health.