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Federal judge backs release of Islamic charity fundraiser
| Thursday, Jul 27 2006 6:15 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Jul 27 2006 6:15 PM
A federal judge has ordered that a top fundraiser for an Islamic charity the government says has ties to terrorism be released from detention, his attorney said Thursday.
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Abdel-Jabbar Hamdan, who has been held for two years, was ordered released without bond, according to his attorney, Ranjana Natarajan of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
"We're thrilled, we're just thrilled," Natarajan said.
The order was entered Thursday by U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter.
"It is ordered that judgment be entered granting the Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus filed herein and ordering respondents to release petitioner forthwith on conditions of supervision authorized by law," the judge said, according to the court's Web site.
Hamdan, 45, of Buena Park, had not been released from the Terminal Island federal detention facility as of Thursday afternoon. A call left at his home was not immediately returned.
Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said federal lawyers had not yet seen a copy of the order.
"Once we receive a copy we will review it to determine our course of action," she said.
Hamdan, who also founded a mosque in Anaheim, was arrested on immigration charges in July 2004 as federal authorities unsealed an indictment against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development. The government charged the Texas-based charity funneled millions to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The following month, Hamdan was ordered deported on the immigration charges. His requests to be released on bond while he fights the charges had been denied repeatedly until this week.
Hamdan, who was born in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank, was accused of having ties to terrorism but was never charged. Instead, he was convicted of overstaying a student visa he got 27 years ago.
The Holy Land Foundation's president, chairman and director of endowments have been charged with terrorism-related crimes.