The Tariq Ramadan Case
Sat, Jun 24, 2006 at 8:20:23 am PDT
Radical Islamic propaganda site IslamOnline really wants Tariq Ramadan to get into the United States. And a US federal judge is helping them: US Judge Slams Foot-dragging on Scholar Visa. (Hat tip: sr_soph.)
NEW YORK — A US federal judge issued on Friday, June 23, a three-month deadline for the Bush administration to rule on a visa application by prominent Muslim intellectual and scholar Tariq Ramadan.
“The government has failed to adjudicate Ramadan’s pending B-visa application within a reasonable period of time,” Judge Paul Crotty, Reuters reported.
Ramadan, one of Europe’s best known Muslim intellectuals, has been barred from entering the US since 2004 after his visa was revoked by authorities. He applied for a non-immigrant visa in September last year, but US officials have stalled on deciding his request, citing national security concerns.
Judge Crotty said the US government explanations on delaying a decision on the visa application was “less than convincing”.
“If the government has a legitimate and bona fide reason for excluding Ramadan, then it may exclude him,” he said. “But it must do so by acting on the pending visa application, not by studying Ramadan’s application indefinitely.” ...
The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors and PEN American Center — all of which had invited Ramadan as a guest speaker. ...
Over a dozen US academics protested the visa denial and the Chicago Tribune described it as a punishment for his views on Iraq invasion and Israeli policies.
The Guardian recently reported that US professors and teachers were facing hard time speaking their minds out and criticizing the Bush administration’s foreign policy with federal anti-terror sheriffs watching and students paid to tape “anti-America” statements.
US professors are having a hard time speaking out against President Bush? In which universe?
