Sami Omar Al-Hussayen

Sami Omar Al-Hussayen
Born1973 (age 50–51)
Saudi Arabia
Detained at Idaho
Penaltyacquitted
Statusdeported
OccupationProfessor of Computer Science

Sami Omar Al-Hussayen (born 1973, Saudi Arabia), also known as Sami Al-Hussayen,[1] is a teacher at a technical college in Riyadh. As a Ph.D. graduate student in computer science at the University of Idaho in the United States, he was arrested and charged in 2003 by the United States with running websites as a webmaster that were linked to organizations that support terrorism. Al-Hussayen is one of the few people at the time to have been charged under a provision that has been described as "overly broad and vague."[2] He was also charged with immigration violations.[3]

U.S. v. Al-Hussayen is considered a landmark case for civil liberties, related to provisions of the USA Patriot Act in the United States. It was the first time that the government tried to use the material support statutes "to prosecute conduct that consisted almost exclusively of operating and maintaining websites."[4]

Idaho's senior U.S. senator and one of its congressmen, both Republicans, had already proposed amendments to the Act because of their concerns about its effects on civil liberties.[2]

At an immigration hearing in 2003, the federal judge ordered Al-Hussayen deported. He was held in the United States to face terrorism and immigration charges, and was tried in 2004. He was acquitted that year of the three federal terrorism charges, which was considered a "stinging defeat" for the government;[5] he was also acquitted of three of eight immigration charges. The jury was deadlocked on the other immigration charges, and the judge called a mistrial.

Al-Hussayen accepted a deal, agreeing to deportation if the prosecutor dropped plans to retry him on the outstanding immigration charges. His wife and three sons returned to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia before him, and he was deported in July 2004. He and his wife both work in Riyadh.

  1. ^ Afterwords, C-SPAN, October 7, 2011, discussion by Susan Herman of her book, Taking Liberties.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Egan1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "USA v. Sami Omar Al-Hussayen" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. March 2004. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  4. ^ [1] Alan F. Williams, "Prosecuting Website Development Under the Material Support to Terrorism Statutes: Time to Fix What's Broken"], Legislation and Public Policy, Vol. 11, No. 2:365, New York University, accessed 5 July 2023
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Egan2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).