Federal Judge "Needs to Hear More Evidence" Before Making Bond Decision on Izhar Khan

By Matthew Hendley Wed., Jul. 13 2011 at 10:59 AM

Categories: Law & Order

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Phot by Mike Rice

Scene from the Margate mosque protest.

U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan denied a bond request yesterday for Hafiz Khan -- a Miami imam who's among six people charged with conspiring to support the Pakistani Taliban -- but the judge made no such ruling for his son, Izhar Khan.

Izhar Khan, 24, was the imam of Margate's Masjid Jamaat Al-Mumineen mosque before his arrest in May.

The federal indictment against Izhar seemed weak from the get-go, and according to the Associated Press, Judge Jordan agreed:

"Jordan delayed a decision on the son's bond request, saying he needs to hear more evidence before ruling," they say in the short article.

In case you forgot, Khan's mosque in Margate was subject to a religulous protest last month, led in part by congressional candidate Joe Kaufman.

They wanted the mosque to permanently shut down, regardless of Khan's presumptive innocence.

The protest went from some goofy ideological speak to downright lunacy, reaching a peak when a woman screamed hysterically at the mosque's worshipers, "Are you going to blow up our daycare centers?"

That led to a New Times article titled "Margate Mosque Protest: An Assembly of Anti-Intellectualism" and this author's subsequent appearance on a conservative talk radio June 8 to defend the piece.

The argument was -- aside from saying the protesters were "at war with truth, justice, and rational thought" -- that there was absolutely no reason for that protest to occur.

In the federal indictment filed on May 12, prosecutors allege 27 "overt facts" against the six people charged.

Just two of those mention Izhar Khan:

7. On or about July 11, 2009, [Hafiz] Khan asked Izhar to collect from a donor in the United States money that Khan told Izhar had been approved for the mujahideen.

9. On or about July 16, 2009, Izhar caused $900 to be sent via wire transfer to [his sister] in Pakistan.

In a nutshell, Izhar Khan has been charged with conspiring to support the Pakistani Taliban for sending $900 to his sister, according to the feds.

Judge Jordan might be on to something by saying he "needs to hear more evidence" before allowing or forbidding Khan to post bond.

If you can be held without bond with no more evidence than sending several hundred dollars to your sister, that just adds another scary thought to American justice.

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