ACLU Urges Federal Appeals Court To Lift Ban On Renowned Scholar

by via ACLU

Mon, Apr 28, 2008 7:09PM

Monday, April 28, 2008 : NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a brief in a federal court today in an appeal challenging the government's refusal to grant a visa to renowned Swiss scholar Tariq Ramadan. The ACLU maintains that the government's stated reason for barring the scholar is a pretext and that Ramadan, a leading European academic whose work addresses Muslim identity and the role of Islam in democratic societies, remains banned from the country because of his political viewpoints.

"The government's stated reason for excluding Professor Ramadan is transparently pretextual," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project. "The government has no legal basis for denying Americans the opportunity to meet with Professor Ramadan, hear his views, and engage him in debate. It's raw censorship. By barring Professor Ramadan, the government is unlawfully preventing United States citizens and residents from hearing ideas that they have a constitutional right to hear."

In December, U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty of the Southern District of New York ruled that Ramadan could be denied entry into the U.S. based on small donations he made between 1998 and 2002 to a Swiss charity that provides aid to Palestinians. The organization operates lawfully in Europe to this day, but the Bush administration claims that the organization has supported Hamas.

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For more information: http://www.aclu.org/safefree/exclusion/350...

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