Go directly to the database of defendants
Purpose of Project SALAM
This web site is devoted to researching and documenting the likelihood that the United States Justice Department’s post-9/11 terrorism-related prosecutions and convictions have included a significant number of Muslims who were in fact innocent of any crime. Other cases were severely overcharged and/or over sentenced. Read more . . .
Statement By Muslim Support Groups On Tragedy In Schoharie
We are members of the Albany-based Muslim Solidarity Committee, the national Project SALAM (Support And Legal Advocacy for Muslims), and the national Coalition for Civil Freedoms. We grieve with the families and friends Read more . . .
Democracy Now! report on the tragedy in Schoharie, NY and the FBI informant, Shahed Hussain.
Learn more about the wrongful prosecution of Yassin Aref by listening to the podcasts, Terror Talk.
Project SALAM supporteds the clemancy for these seven prisoners in 2016:
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Clemency for Yassin Aref
Clemency for Khalifa Al-Akili (released)
Clemency for Tarik Shah (released)
Clemency for Rezwan Ferdaus
Clemency for Shahawar Matin Siraj
Clemency for Mohammed Saleh
Clemency for Mohammed Hossain
Find out more about their cases by clicking here
Help Khalifa Al-Akili by signing a petition
in support of commutation of his sentance
Help Tarik Shah by signing a petition
in support of commutation of his sentance
The Fort Dix Five Support Committee and
Project SALAM invite you to
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#Justice4FtDix5 |
Join the Dukas in Court
Wednesday, January 6
Hold a Banner vigil - 8:00 AM to 8:45 AM
Attend the Appeal Hearing - 9:00 AM
Download Media Advisory
Mitchell H. Cohen Building & U.S. Courthouse, 4th & Cooper Streets, Camden, New Jersey
Who are the Dukas? They are three brothers who Read more . . .
Albany County Legislature Issues Proclamation
Standing with Our Muslim Neighbors
The Fort Dix Five Support Committee and
Project SALAM invite you to
Hold a Banner for the Dukas
Weekly:
Wednesdays, December 30
from 3:30 to 5:00 PM
Wednesday, January 6 from
8:00 AM to 8:45 AM
Join the Dukas in Court at 9:00 AM
Mitchell H. Cohen Building & U.S. Courthouse, 4th & Cooper Streets, Camden, New Jersey
Who are the Dukas? They are three brothers who Read more . . .
Past events . . .
The Fort Dix Five Support Committee and
Project SALAM Presents
An Evening in Support of the
Fort Dix Five
Saturday, December 12, 2015, 7:00 PM
Philadelphia, PA
Screenings of two documentary films
“The Newburgh Sting” and “Entrapped”
Supporters Observe Eleventh Anniversary Of Aref-Hossain Arrests
Monday, August 3, 2015
With Rally, Speakers, Dinner, March, And Movie
RALLY, SPEAKERS, DINNER: 5:30 pm Masjid As-Salam Mosque
MARCH: 6:45 pm to the Linda, 339 Central Avenue, Albany
MOVIE: 7:00 p.m. at the Linda, 339 Central Avenue, Albany
Petition for Tarik Shah
Tarik’s case is an example of preemptive prosecution: a law enforcement strategy, adopted after 9/11, to target and prosecute individuals or organizations whose beliefs, ideology, or religious affiliations raise security concerns for the government.
Support the efforts of Tarik’s family and supporters for commutation of his sentence and sign the petition. . . Read more
Inventing Terrorists
The Lawfare of Preemptive Prosecution
A study by Project SALAM and National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms. . . Read more
Supporters Observe Tenth Anniversary Of Aref-Hossain Arrests
Monday, August 4, 2014
With Rally, March, And Staged Reading
RALLY: 4:30 pm Washington Ave. Armory, corner of Lark & Washington
MARCH: 5:00 pm to the Masjid As-Salam Mosque,
READING: 5:30 pm at Masjid As-Salam Mosque, 280 Central Avenue, Albany
For information and stories about Muslims and others
who have been preemptively prosecuted:
Download Project SALAM's booklet -
"Victims of America's Dirty Wars."
Journey for Justice Presentation
Lynne Jackson will speak about last summer's
Journey for Justice
A 133-mile walk for
Yassin Aref in July 2013
Thursday, January 9, 2014 6:30 PM
At the Bethlehem Public Library
451 Delaware Ave., Delmar NY 12054
Press Conference
Will Detail Impact Of New Policy About Nsa Surveillance Evidence On Albany “Sting” Case
Tuesday, December 3, 11:00 AM
280 Central Avenue, Albany, NY
The Muslim Solidarity Committee, Project SALAM, and the Aref-Hossain/Albany chapter of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (NCPCF) invite all media to a press conference on Tuesday, December 3 at 11:00 a.m. at the new section of the Masjid As-Salam, 280 Central Avenue in Albany. Read More . . .
Stop the Militerization of The Albany County Sheriff's Department
Oppose the Acquisition of an MRAP Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Classification One vehicle
Speak out at the Albany County Legislature on Thursday, December 5 at 6:15 PM. Read More . . .
Rally for Compassionate Release for Lynne Stewart
Tuesday, October 9, 2013
Noon at the Federal Building
1 Clinton Avenue, Albany, NY
Read more . . .
Would you like to volunteer? Email Lynne Jackson at lynnejackson@mac.com or Jeanne Finley at finlandia@nycap.rr.com
You are Cordially Invited to Hear
Lynne Jackson speak about the
Journey for Justice —
A 133-mile walk for Yassin Aref
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
6:00 PM Dinner — 7:00 PM Presentation
85 Chestnut Street, Albany, NY
12210
Veterans Will End Fasts on
August 4 at Albany Mosque
7:15 PM, Sunday, August 4
Masjid As-Salam, 280 Central Avenue
Everyone is invited to attend, read more . . .
Journey for Justice
Walk from Albany to Binghamton, July 12 to July 23
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Yassin Aref holds his youngest daughter during a rare prison visit. |
A Victim of Mistaken Identity
Sign a petition to the judge in Yassin Aref's appeal.
Come to a Rally and March for Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain on Friday, July 12 at 6:00 PM at the Masjid As-Salam
The Journey for Justice will deliver the petition by walking from Albany, New York to the judge's home court in Binghamton, New York.
Quick Links to:
Please sign the Petition for Yassin Aref - A Case of Mistaken Identity
Come to the Rally and March - Friday, July 12, 6:00 PM, Albany, NY
Journey for Justice - Deliver petition to home court of the judge by walking from Albany to Binghamton, NY
Notes on conditions of the walk
Become a walk sponsor
Walk Route - List of beginning and ending locations for each day, July 12 to July 23
Information about what walkers should bring
Press packet and suporting documents
Follow the Journey for Justice on the blog
Follow the Journey for Justice on twitter
Read media reports on the appeal motion and the Journey for Justice
Read Yassin Aref's 2255 Petition
Preemptive Prosecutions
Targeting Muslims Was Not the Beginning
Bradley Manning is Not The End
The War on Due Process Before & After 9/11
Sunday, June 9, 2013 • 5:30 to 7:30 pm
At the Unitarian Church of Staten Island, 312 Fillmore Street, Staten Island, NY 10301. Free and open to to the public.
Scapegoated and Buried Alive
The NCPCF Campaign To Free Political Prisoners
Friday, May 3, 2013 • 3:30 to 5:30 pm
in front of the U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW • Washington, DC
Support our Muslim sisters as they protest how the Justice Department turned their relatives into political prisoners and buried them alive in federal prisons.
Victoria Brittain author of Shadow Lives: The Forgotten Women of the War on Terror
Victoria Brittan reads from her new book and speaks on the issues. Book signing follows. Thursday, April 11, 2013 7 p.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church 85 Chestnut Street, Albany, Free and open to all Read more . . .
Vigil outside the court house prior to the Oral Argument for the Appeal of the Newburgh 4
A press conference and vigil will be held outside the court house beginning at 8:30 AM. Monday, November 5 at 10:00 AM at the Federal Court House, 500 Pearl Street, New York, NY.
The four men from Newburgh, New York, were entrapped in a sting operation by the FBI, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Read more . . .
Read the Report on the CodePink delegation to Pakistan by Joe Lombardo, UNAC co-coordinator. Joe Lombardo describes his trip to Pakistan and his meeting with the Aafia Siddiqui movement in Pakistan. Read Joe Lombardo's report.
Civil Rights and Wrongs:
Targeting and Entrapment of Muslims and the State of Civil Liberties Today
Vegetarian and vegan lasagna dinner, Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 6:00 PM at 85 Chestnut Street, Albany. Read more . . .
Senate Hearing on Solitary Confinement
The Missing Piece
By Melva Underbakke
In June of 2012, the first ever and long over due hearing on solitary confinement was held in front of the Senate Judicial Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Read more . . .
Carl Strock, of the Daily Gazette, wrote "Albany cops probe Muslims and friends" on September 2, 2012:
Here is a situation to think about regarding the monitoring and profiling of Muslims, or the war on terror, or whatever you want to call it.
About a week and a half ago two Albany men active in defending the rights of Muslims — Steve Downs, a retired state lawyer, and Shamshad Ahmad, read more . . .
The Albany Speech Police
by Stephen Downs
On August 21, 2012 I had my first encounter with the Albany Speech Police. I was hosting lunch in an Albany, New York restaurant with Dr. Shamshad read more . . .
Watch slideshow of Candlelight March and Dinner on YouTube
Read media reports on Candlelight March and Inter-faith Dinner In Support of Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain
Download Fact Sheet on the Yassin Aref/Mohammed Hossain Case here
Candlelight March and
Inter-faith Dinner
Yassin Aref and
Mohammed Hossain
Saturday, August 4, 2012 at 7:00 PM
The candlelight march will begin at Townsend Park and end at the Masjid As-Salam, 278 Central Avenue, Albany. Read more . . .
Download Fact Sheet on the Yassin Aref/Mohammed Hossain Case here
People's Summit in Chicago Workshop: The Post-9/11 Targeting of Muslims: Naming the Victims, Naming the Repression
presented by Lynne Jackson and Cathy Callan. Read more and viewlinks to reports. . .
ALBANY GROUPS DECRY SURVEILLANCE OF MUSLIMS IN ALBANY AND IN
THREE STATES
The Muslim Solidarity Committee of Albany; Project SALAM (Support And Legal Advocacy for Muslims, http://www.projectsalam.org), based in Albany; and the University at Albany Muslim Student Association strongly protest surveillance of Muslim students by the NYPD. The Associated Press has revealed that from 2006–2009, the New York Police Department was carrying out illegal surveillance of Muslim students . . . Read more
Current Events:
Attend the trial of Ziyad Yaghi
Monday, September 19 - New Bern, North Carolina
Innocent Muslims are being targeted and convicted for crimes they have not committed. On September 19, 2011, a trial is scheduled to take place in New Bern, North Carolina––that accuses a number of individuals of terrorism, including twenty-one-year-old Ziyad Yaghi. We believe that only by observing these trials can fair-minded people decide whether the trials are just and the defendants guilty or innocent. . . . Read and download complete letter asking people to attend the trial . . .
Arts Against Repression
Friday, August 5, 2011
7th Anniversay Commemoration of the Arrests of
Yassin Aref & Mohammed Hossain
In Solidarity with all Victims of Preemptive Prosecution
GATHER: 5:30 pm Masjid As-Salam Mosque, 278 Central Avenue, Albany
MARCH: 6:15pm to Grand Street Community Arts (GSCA) 68 Grand Street
PERFORMANCES: 7-10 PM at GSCA featuring: Taina Asili & Gaetano Vaccaro
of the Banda Rebelde,
Antoine Dowdell, NYC jazz musician and brother of prisoner Tarik Shah, Sybil Allyson & Roots of Change with Roger Mock Read more . . .
To catch a
Terrorist
The FBI hunts for the enemy within
By Petra Bartosiewicz, Harper's Magazine, August, 2011
In June 2008, I attended a meeting in Albany organized by the FBI and designed to quell the growing fury over the arrest and prosecution of two local Mus lim immig r ant s , Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain. The previous year Aref and Hossain, both leaders at a local mosque, had been sentenced to fifteen years in federal prison in connection with their role in a terrorism scheme that the press had dubbed the Albany “missile plot.” Read the rest . . .
'Little Gitmo'
By Christopher S. Stewart, Published Jul 10, 2011 in New York Magazine
When an upstate imam named Yassin Aref was convicted on a suspect terrorism charge, he was sent to a secretive prison denounced by civil libertarians as a Muslim quarantine.
Read the article online at New York Magazine, published on July 10, 2011
Just Published -
"Victims of Ameria's Dirty Wars"
"Victims of America's Dirty Wars" begins with the story of the FBI’s infamous COINTELPRO program of the 1960s, which targeted the Black Power and anti-war movements, and ends with the government’s attack on and repression of innocent Muslims in particular, but also peace activists, civil rights proponents, union organizers, environmentalists, animal rights advocates, and immigrant communities after 9/11. The story shows how the last decade has seen a dramatic increase in profiling read more . . .
Entrapment or Foiling Terror? FBI’s Reliance on Paid Informants Raises Questions about Validity of Terrorism Cases
Democracy Now! half-hour program. See the video - read the transcript.
United National Peace March to Mosque
The United National Peace Conference concluded with a solidarity march to the Albany Mosque. The activists marched in support of our Muslim brothers and sisters who have been charged, found guilty and are serving jail terms for terrorism. The cases of the Albany 2, the Fort Dix 5 and Lynne Stewart were brought to light during the rally. The peace groups reiterated their opposition to the preemptive prosecution techniques used by the FBI. It was a moving conclusion to an inspiring weekend.
Muslim Solidarity Handbook Published
The Muslim Solidarity Committee in Albany, New York (supporting Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain) has now become the local “chapter” of Project SALAM. But the committee was founded in October 2006, and Project SALAM grew directly out of the committee’s four-year advocacy for Aref and Hossain. Here is a history of the Muslim Solidarity Committee, written for the United National Peace Conference in Albany on July 23–25, 2010, in the form of a downloadable booklet. Read about who we are, why we began, the background of the Aref-Hossain case, other Muslim prosecutions in Albany, and the committee’s activities year by year––and use it as a handbook for Muslim justice in your own community.
The Albany City Council Passes the Resolution Asking for Justice for Muslims!
Read reports on this historic report and watch a video of the event.
On Monday, April 5, the Albany, NY City Council passed a resolution entitled: "RESOLUTION URGING THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO REVIEW THE CONVICTIONS OF MUSLIMS WHO WERE “PREEMPTIVELY PROSECUTED” TO ENSURE THEIR FAIR TREATMENT UNDER THE U.S. CONSTITUTION AND BILL OF RIGHTS"
Preemptive Prosecution Case Summaries
ReadProject SALAM's newest analysis of preemptive prosecution
Preemptive Prosecution Amicus Brief
Project SALAM asked for permission to file the first Amicus (Friend of the Court) brief in the case of Yassin Aref and Mohammed Hossain, Muslims entrapped by the FBI in Albany, New York. Click here to read the papers Project SALAM filed.
See the new review of Rounded Up featured on Truthout.org.
Click here to sign
Seventh Letter to President Obama and
Attorney General Eric Holder
(Please note: the petition is hosted by iPetitions.
No donation is necessary to sign the petition)
Please sign the seventh letter to President Obama and Attorney General Holder. This letter requests that the Justice Department deal with the serious issues of misconduct and illegal behavior in which the Justice Department has been engaged, including the failure of the Office of Professional Responsibility to discipline lawyers such as Yoo, Bybee, and Bradbury who committed serious professional misconduct in authorizing torture, and the Offices failure to discipline lawyers who fail to disclose exculpatory information (the Stevens case).
Also discussed is the failure of the Department of Justice to take appropriate action in the cases of the CIA Agents convicted in Italy; the failure to turn over exculpatory information in the Samueli and Ruehle cases; the dismissal of charges in the Blackwater prosecution; the “loss” of 22 million emails from the White House; the cover-up of prisoner murders at Guantanamo; the manufacturing of emergencies to by-pass warrant requirements; the continuing torture program of the Obama Administration; the killing of Imam Luquman Ameen Abdullah, and the implementation of the Total Information Awareness system in violation of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Please add your signature as well. The truth is coming out about how the Bush Administration broke the law, lied about it, and covered it up on a massive scale. We know that justice was twisted and that innocent Muslim were convicted as a result. Soon the whole world will know. Please be part of this effort to force the Obama Administration to address the injustices that stain our nation's honor.