New court ruling in Palestine activist Rasmea Odeh’s case

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2 SOCIALIST ACTION SEPTEMBER 2016 On Aug. 29, the defense case of 69-year-old Palestinian rights activist Rasmea Odeh took an unexpected and potentially ominous turn when presid­ ing Federal Judge Gershwin Drain ruled that Odeh will be subjected to up to 18 hours of intensive psychological testing by an appointed government forensic examiner whose job is to undermine her legal defense and bolster the pros­ ecution case.

Defense attorneys for Odeh countered on Sept. 6 with a court motion to “re­ quire the government to disclose the identity and all other relevant infor­ mation concerning the expert … and to identify any formal tests that the des­ ignated individual intends to adminis­ ter.” The U.S. Attorney’s office has thus far refused to provide the defense legal team with this important information.

A prominent figure in the Palestinian national liberation movement, Odeh was wrongly convicted in 2014 of im­ migration fraud for failing to disclose her conviction by an Israeli military court more than 40 years ago. She was later sentenced to 18 months in prison, her U.S. citizenship was revoked, and deportation to Jordan was ordered.

In 2015 Odeh appealed her convic­ tion, charging that Judge Drain had is­ sued rulings that blocked her from pre­ senting her case. She and her legal team have effectively argued that the charges against her were politically motivated; and in February 2016, Odeh won an im­ portant victory when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated her immigra­ effectiveness of mass action. based on the trade unions. designed, and laid out entirely by volunteer labor. Name City State Phone E-mail tion fraud conviction. The court ruled that Judge Drain was wrong in his han­ dling of the case, especially his refusal to allow the defense to present medical evidence that Odeh had suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Odeh suffered from PTSD during in­ terrogations in which she was accused of intentionally deceiving immigration authorities of her unlawful conviction and imprisonment while under Israeli occupation.

Through multiple rulings favorable to the prosecution during the trial, Odeh was prevented from telling her story. While a political prisoner under Israeli occupation in 1969, after being subject­ ed to over three weeks of brutal sexual, physical, and psychological torture, she was coerced by the Israeli military into Editor: Michael Schreiber Canada Editor: Barry Weisleder Subscribe now!

Address Zip a false confession of involvement in Je­ rusalem bombings.

The Aug. 29 decision by Judge Drain to subject Odeh to new psychological interrogation allows the prosecution an attempt to discredit the detailed evalu­ ation already conducted by noted clini­ cal psychologist Mary Fabri, an expert with an extensive background in treat­ ing victims of torture. After an extensive examination of Odeh, Fabri concluded that her PTSD could have prevented her from recalling many important details while under questioning of Israeli and immigration authorities.

Michael Deutsch, lead defense attor­ ney for Odeh, reacted to Judge Drain’s decision: “While Rasmea has become the most famous target of a political trial in the U.S. today, she has always avoided with the Fourth International.

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[email protected] • Minneapolis/St. Paul: (612) 802-1482, [email protected] • New York City: (212) 781-5157 • Philadelphia: [email protected] discussion of the crimes commit­ ted against her in that Israeli pris­ on in 1969. The government case against Rasmea is based on the word of her Israeli captors, and yet at every turn, Judge Drain has denied her defense the right to challenge those statements in his courtroom. Once again, his latest decision favors the prosecution’s endless attempts to cover up the crimes of Israel against Rasmea.” Judge Drain also cancelled a scheduled Sept. 22 hearing at the Detroit courthouse, where the Rasmea Defense Committee had been planning a rally of support­ ers from throughout the Midwest. Nesreen Hasan of U.S. Palestin­ ian Community Network (US­ PCN) told Palestine America: “It’s unfortunate that the judge sided with the prosecution, but we’re still go­ ing to fight. … [I’m] concerned for the health of Rasmea because the psycho­ logical evaluation will be a triggering process. The ruling just goes to show that the prosecution doesn’t care about her health and doesn’t care that they are causing her to relive her trauma.”

The government’s legal offensive rep­ resents a political attack on Rasmea Odeh and the broader movement for Palestinian rights. “The case against Rasmea is a thinly veiled political pros­ ecution,” said Dima Khalidi, director of Palestine Legal. “And the Appeals Court’s decision to send the case back confirms that the District Court inap­ propriately excluded expert testimony (continued on page 10)

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