In spite of sensationalist coverage of the trial, the local press has had to admit that neither is accused of "any acts of terrorism" or violence.

Mohamad Hammoud, 28, is the first person to be tried under a 1996 federal law banning material support to groups designated as foreign terrorist groups. He is accused of sending money to Hezbollah in Lebanon. He is also charged with money laundering, cigarette smuggling, immigration fraud, and racketeering. He faces 30 years to life if convicted on all charges.

Chawki Hammoud, 37, faces up to 14 years in prison on similar but lesser charges. He pleaded guilty to entering a fraudulent marriage designed to avoid immigration laws and help him stay in the United States.

As part of the attempt to railroad the two to prison, the government has put on a display of special security measures for the trial. Concrete barriers were placed around the courthouse where the trial is being held. U.S. marshals stand guard with assault rifles when the brothers are brought to court. As many as a dozen security guards are posted within the courtroom. Spectators are prohibited from bringing cell phones, beepers, and laptop computers. The identities of jurors are secret.

For the first time in a U.S. court, wiretaps by Canadian security agencies were allowed as evidence. A translator for the Canadian spy agency was scheduled to testify in disguise.

The frame-up began publicly in July 2000 when 18 people, mostly from Lebanon, were arrested in North Carolina and charged with cigarette smuggling, money laundering, and immigration violations after a massive police investigation originally dubbed "Operation Smoke Screen."

Ten of these individuals were later charged with participating in a Charlotte "Hezbollah Cell." The cops claim that profits from the alleged cigarette smuggling were used to fund Hezbollah. Eight of them pleaded guilty to various charges and are awaiting sentencing. Several are testifying as prosecution witnesses against the Hammouds in exchange for lesser sentences.

Hezbollah is an organization in Lebanon that fought both against Israeli military forces and the right-wing militia backed by Tel Aviv that occupied the southern part of the country for 22 years. Israel continues to control a small part of territory in Lebanon, after being forced to withdraw from most of the occupied land due to resistance from the Lebanese people.  
 
Infiltrated prayer meetings
As part of their investigation, government agents infiltrated weekly prayer meetings that the Hammouds were part of. The prosecution accuses the participants in the prayer group of reading speeches by Hezbollah’s General Secretary Sheik Nasserallah and deceased Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomenei--as if doing so is a crime.

The government says that with his computer Mohamad Hammoud accessed Hezbollah web sites and communicated with Hezbollah members in Lebanon, and that he owned copies of pro-Hezbollah videos that depict the resistance to Israeli occupation of his homeland, including crowds chanting, "Death to America; Death to Israel."

On June 12 the U.S. prosecutor presented what he asserted were transcripts of Canadian wiretaps that record conversations by members of the Hezbollah "cell" discussing plans to send "drilling equipment" to Hezbollah. But neither Hammoud was mentioned on these tapes. The next day the prosecution played tapes of a conversation between Mohamad Hammoud and a person they said was a Hezbollah military commander in Lebanon.

During the cross-examination of Mohamad Hammoud, who took the stand in his own defense, the prosecutor dramatically pointed to a picture of Mohamad when he was a teenager in Lebanon with an automatic weapon in his hand.

Mohamad Hammoud has never denied being sympathetic to Hezbollah and resistance fighters trying to drive Israel out of his homeland. He explained that growing up he saw the destruction caused by the Israeli occupation of Lebanon and its support to rightist forces there. He added that during the Israeli invasion in 1992 he suffered the effects of a raid while he was celebrating the last day of school with classmates. "I woke up in the hospital," he said. "My friend passed away that day."

"I am in the United States, the mother of democracy," he testified. "I never thought I’d be prosecuted because I have sympathy for Hezbollah." While refusing to back down from his opposition to Israel in Lebanon and support to the resistance movement, Hammoud denied that he provided funds to Hezbollah.

Dennis Richter is a textile worker and member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees Local 1516.  
 
 
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