Muwaffak Al-Nuwaiser, Asharq Al-Awsat

RIYADH, 8 March 2004 — Essam Muhammad Al-Mohandis, a Saudi biomedical engineer recently acquitted in the US of smuggling explosives, has described the vindictive behavior of US immigration authorities.

In an exclusive interview, Al-Mohandis, an employee of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, spoke of how federal agents maltreated him during his ordeal.

He said his lawyer Miriam Conrad was successful in disproving all the charges against him. The charges — possession and smuggling of explosives and lying to Customs authorities — were enough to sentence him for 15-year prison with a fine of SR950,000 ($250,000).

Al-Mohandis was arrested for carrying three small sparklers on a flight from Germany to Boston.

Al-Mohandis, who had flown to Boston for a five-day training seminar on how to use DNA equipment purchased by the Riyadh hospital, said he never thought his journey would end in a US prison for dangerous criminals.

US police arrested him again eight hours after his acquittal for not having a valid visa. Al-Mohandis did not have a current visa because the federal officers had revoked his visa after the arrest.

“While I was receiving congratulations for the acquittal, seven gun-wielding security officers came to our hotel room and asked me to escort them. They told me they were from the Immigration Department,” he said.

He said the officers did not allow him to call either his lawyer or his father. “They did not even allow me to take my clothes. They later took me to the deportation cell, where I was treated much better,” he said.

He said prosecuting US Attorney Gregory Moffatt collected his wallet and credit cards and brought them to him in jail, along with a personal apology. “He said the decision to arrest him was taken by a colleague,” he said.

The Customs officials in Boston also called him for a meeting before his departure for Riyadh. They asked him several questions including whether he was afraid of returning to the Kingdom and whether he had any problems with the Saudi government. “I told them no.”

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(Read the full report in tomorrow’s Arab News)