Dear Naomi,

I am writing to you today in hopes of getting the story of my brother covered by you and raising awareness for a case that affects all Americans.

I am fighting for justice for my brother Ahmed Abu-Ali, a U.S. citizen who continues to spend 23 hours every day in solitary confinement at ADX Supermax Prison based on a confession obtained through torture. Ahmed was born in Texas and raised in Falls Church, VA. He spent his free time working with disabled adults, teaching children how to read, and building bridges in interfaith activities, and donated blood regularly to the American Red Cross. Ahmed completed high school in Northern Virginia where he graduated as valedictorian. He then got a full scholarship to study Islamic Literature in Medina.

Ahmed’s life took an unexpected turn when he was 22 years old. On June 8, 2003 he was wrongly detained in Saudi Arabia, amidst a final exam. He was tortured into reading a false confession, held for 20 months without charges or access to attorney. The US government, after denying any involvement in Ahmed’s detention and repeatedly stating they had no interest in him even though they had already acquired the confession tape, suddenly flew him to the US and charged him with conspiracy based only on the confession obtained through torture in a Saudi prison. Despite this, the judge refused to suppress the tainted evidence and didn’t allow evidence of torture to being presented to the jury. Ahmed was sentenced to thirty years, then increased to life in prison, for “conspiracies” that the judge said “did not result in a single actual victim”

Now it has been nearly nine years that Ahmed has spent in solitary confinement in an 8×12 room in Colorado’s Supermax, also called “the clean version of hell.” He is not allowed any contact with the outside world except for limited correspondence with his family and attorney. Now our last available legal option to free Ahmed is a habeas petition, which is scheduled for April 2012.

Please help me bring attention to his case, which set a disturbing precedent which we MUST reverse!

You can read more about his case at freeahmed.com

Best,

Mariam Abu Ali

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