US conviction over Iraq sanctions

[Judi Lynn]

Last Updated: Thursday, 26 January 2006, 14:58 GMT
US conviction over Iraq sanctions

A court in the US has convicted a Palestinian-born man of violating US sanctions against Iraq.
The court found Shaaban Hafiz Ahmad Ali Shaaban, 53, guilty of six charges, including doing business with Iraq.

But the jury in Indianapolis were unable to reach a verdict on charges that he tried to sell the names of US intelligence agents to Baghdad.

Shaaban, who had been working as a lorry driver, could face more than 50 years in prison.

The court found him guilty of six charges, including illegally travelling to Iraq four months before the US invasion, doing business there despite US sanctions and illegally obtaining US citizenship.
(snip/...)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4650664.stm

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. I'm sure Valerie Plame didn't need to be on that list.... nt.

[LittleOne]

2. So I have a question...

I am a Canadian living in the US. What if I wanted to go party with Castro for the weekend? I can travel to Cuba from Canada without a problem.

Me and Fidel come up with a great business plan and are going to make a fortune. We decide to register the company in Canada and I telecommute to work.

Did I just break the law and can I expect the men in black to show up at my door step?

[Judi Lynn]

3. If you haven't heard the story of Canadian citizen, James Sabzali, you may

find this one very interesting:

in April 2002, James Sabzali was convicted in Philadelphia of violating America’s 1919 'Trading with the Enemy Act'. Sabzali is a Canadian citizen, born in Trinidad, and working in the United States where he was convicted along with two American citizens. He was originally charged almost three years earlier and has already been under house arrest in Philadelphia since the conviction. But more than a year and a half after his conviction, he is still not sentenced.

So far, he is the only foreign national to be prosecuted for violating the US government’s 40-year embargo of Cuba. He was convicted of twenty counts of trading with the enemy and one count of conspiracy. At least seven of the charges on which he was convicted are for trades he made while living in Canada where the 'Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act' forbids Canadians from complying with the US embargo. In fact, as a Canadian citizen, Sabzali was obliged to ignore the US embargo and to inform the Canadian government of any orders from the United States to refrain from trade with Cuba for political or legal reasons. Other charges related to shipments to Cuba originating in Spain, Italy, Britain, and Mexico; none of those nations recognize the US anti-Cuban legislation.

If Sabzali receives the maximum penalty under US law, he faces a possible 205 years in prison and $5 million dollars in fines. Prosecutors were said to be willing to settle for 62 months in prison but the sentencing has been repeatedly pushed back and now a federal judge has ordered a new trial. There is no guarantee that he will fare any better with a new trial and, if convicted again, he could even receive a much more brutal sentence than originally proposed by the first trial prosecutor.

An official from the US Attorney General’s office has commented that "This case was never about commerce between Canada and Cuba. It's about commerce between the United States with Cuba. We know Canada trades with Cuba. We don't have a beef with that." One wonders, then, why Sabzali was charged with offenses which occurred in Canada, where the trade did not involve the United States and where it was a requirement of law that Sabzali ignore the American embargo. The Canadian government did lodge a formal protest with American authorities at the time the charges were laid but, de rigueur, they continue to await a response.
(snip)

And if you have a spare moment, enter ‘James Sabzali’ into a search engine and see if you can locate any US-based media that covered this story. Or even much Canadian media, for that matter.
(snip/...)

http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php/20031119140315557

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A later article:

The original 76 charges - 32 of which were for sales made while Sabzali was living and working in Canada - brought a wave of objections about U.S. "extraterritorial measures" from Canadian editorialists and demonstrators, as well as two diplomatic protest notes from Ottawa.

Today's settlement has the Canadian salesman admitting guilt for a 1994 transaction that occurred while he lived in Hamilton and was a self-employed Canadian businessman.

Sabzali's conviction via his guilty plea demonstrates "you're not allowed to violate the laws of this country just because you live outside it," said assistant U.S. attorney Joseph Poluka in an interview.

"You need to educate your Canadian audience," he told the Canadian Press.

Meanwhile Sabzali said: "The difference between the 76 counts and the single one we settled on is between possible life in prison and a single year of probation. It's a chasm that speaks volumes about the strength of the government's case."
(snip/...)

http://www.canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/Documents/Sabzali.shtml

[LittleOne]

4. This is insane...

Thanks for the links...

So it is not safe to move to the US (legally) if you have ever had any dealings with Cuba or any other country that is on the US Shit List even if it is legal in your own country?

Sabzali's conviction via his guilty plea demonstrates "you're not allowed to violate the laws of this country just because you live outside it," said assistant U.S. attorney Joseph Poluka in an interview. And this makes sense how? WTF

[Judi Lynn]

5. It defies common sense. Shameful, power mad, underhanded.

Let the mighty eagle soar!

[LittleOne]

6. Well my Dad has this experience a couple of years back....

He landed his Canadian butt at LAX coming from his annual Mexico Vacation. They hauled him in and interrogated him for 4 hours because wait for it...

50 years ago he went to the local Ukrainian Hall for a dinner and it cost him a dollar. The money went to the Canadian Communist Party as a donation (he didn't know and would not have cared as he was a hungry 20 year old).

So he spent 4 hours hours explaining he and the Canadian Government didn't have a problem with each other considering he was a federal employee for 20 years.

Boy the US really cracked down on that little 70 year old Commie.

Hope they don't ever see that photo of him, Fidel and Che.

[Judi Lynn]

7. I'll bet the beard will help conceal him! Heh heh.

Rarely circulated photos of Che Guevara

[LittleOne]

8. He is the second one from the left in the top photo...

Actually after I photo-shopped it for him (wish I could find it now) he took it to the Legion and convinced his buddies he was really with Che and Fidel.

Luckily, he refused to take any flight that stops in the US so he should be safe.