Abdel-Muhti was giving a talk in Philadelphia and immediately afterwards rested his head on the table in front of him. “I think we all thought he was just resting,” said Jamal Hannah who was in the audience. But when he fell off his chair, his fiancée, Sharin, dropped her video camera and ran onto the stage in panic. Soon afterwards, he was taken away in an ambulance and died in the hospital a little later.

Farouk Abdel-Muhti was released from jail on April 12, 2004 after being held for two years without charge by U.S. immigration officials. He was frequently held in solitary confinement, subjected to extensive interrogation, and sometimes denied food. His supporters considered him to be a political prisoner.

As a Palestinian who came to the U.S. four decades ago, Abdel-Muhti argued he was "stateless" and had no country to which he could have been deported. He was a former producer of the program "Wake Up Call" on the radio station WBAI in New York City.

Watch or listen to Farouk's last words or hear his son and fiancee talk about his life on Democracy Now!.

Listen to Democracy Now’s interview with Farouk the day after his release, only three months ago.

Read Farouk’s statement on “Israeli Massacres and Seige in Rafah."


Audio Interview with Farouk Abdel-Muhti - UNDER ATTACK: Arab, Muslim & South Asian Communities
Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti | Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants