The jailed leader of a local Islamic charity suspects that the government might be eavesdropping on his conversations with his attorneys, possibly in violation of federal law.
Lawyers for Enaam Arnaout, held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago on charges of funneling donations to Al Qaeda and other violent groups, said at a hearing Thursday that prison staffers told him the conversations are being secretly taped.
William Ziegelmueller, one of Arnaout’s attorneys, asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Ian Levin to require that Arnaout be permitted to hold private meetings with his lawyers.
The request came during a hearing to decide whether Arnaout, executive director of Palos Hills-based Benevolence International Foundation, would be freed on bond. Levin postponed a ruling on the detention but said any order keeping Arnaout in prison would specify that he is allowed to meet privately with his attorneys.
U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, who is personally handling the case, declined to say whether the government is eavesdropping. But he said federal prosecutors are abiding by the law.
After Sept. 11, the Bush administration instituted an antiterrorism policy allowing authorities to monitor communications between some people in federal custody and their attorneys without seeking a federal court order. Previously, federal prosecutors had to obtain authority from a judge after showing evidence that an attorney was being used to carry out a criminal enterprise.
Under the new policy, the Justice Department has said that lawyers and their clients would be told of monitoring in advance. Ziegelmueller said that Arnaout’s attorneys haven’t been notified that conversations are being taped.
Arnaout has been jailed since April, when he was arrested for allegedly committing perjury by lying about Benevolence’s support of violence and terrorism on a statement filed in a civil lawsuit, authorities said. Last month the government charged Arnaout with conspiring to defraud contributors by using their donations to support violent causes.
Arnaout has pleaded not guilty. On Thursday, defense lawyer Joseph Duffy argued that Arnaout should be released while awaiting trial in February, partly because he lacks the means to flee the country.
But Fitzgerald said Arnaout, who faces a 90-year prison term if convicted, “has every reason to run.”
