• MEMBERS

Ex-spy suspect receives award, hero's welcome

By Emily Bazar | Sacramento Bee
Print | Email

When Army Capt. James Yee was presented with a "Courage and Inspiration Award" by a local Muslim organization Saturday night, a diverse audience rose to its feet to congratulate him:

Muslims and Christians, Arab Americans and African Americans, imams and politicians.

Asian Americans made up an especially large contingent at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) fund-raiser, which drew more than 400 people to the Hilton near Arden Fair mall.

Many Asian Americans said they attended because they felt a special bond with Yee, a Muslim Army chaplain formerly stationed at the U.S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Yee, who is Chinese American, was charged last year with mishandling classified information, and spent 76 days in solitary confinement. Military officials had said they might have a Guantánamo-based spy ring on their hands, but the government's case against Yee disintegrated. The criminal charges against him were dismissed earlier this year.

"Things like this should stop," said Linda Ng, president of the Sacramento chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans. "That's why all of us are standing together."

One of Yee's assistants at Guantánamo, Ahmad Al Halabi, also attended the fund-raiser. Al Halabi was tried this year at Travis Air Force Base as a member of the alleged Guantánamo spy ring.

As in Yee's case, the espionage charges against Al Halabi unraveled. In September, Al Halabi pleaded guilty to relatively minor charges of mishandling military materials; his rank was reduced to airman basic and he was given a bad-conduct discharge.

Al Halabi had originally been accused of attempting to spy for his native Syria. The naturalized U.S. citizen spent 10 months behind bars and could have faced execution.

When Yee accepted his award Saturday night, he acknowledged Al Halabi, saying the two were victims of "this new culture of eroding civil liberties."

"There are many others who are considered heroes, who are considered courageous and inspiration(al). Many of those who may even be here tonight in this audience," he said.

The West Point graduate told the crowd that the Army has accepted his resignation, and he will be honorably discharged Jan. 7. He is stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash.

"At this time just one short year ago, I was still fasting Ramadan and praying the Ramadan prayers, alone, without the benefit or the rewards of praying in congregation, while still locked up in the naval brig down in Charleston, South Carolina," Yee said. "So I'm thankful that this year is different."

Yee and Al Halabi declined to be interviewed Saturday. Earlier in the week, Yee's civilian defense attorney, Eugene R. Fidell, said his client was warned by military officials that his public statements would be scrutinized.

"He was handed a letter that contained a not-so-veiled threat of disciplinary action in case he said anything critical of the Army," said Fidell, who is based in Washington, D.C. "To a person who had already spent 76 days in solitary confinement, you can't overlook a threat like that."

The letter, dated April 6, informed Yee that "speech that undermines the effectiveness of loyalty, discipline, or unit morale is not constitutionally protected."

Military officials also declined to comment on Yee's Sacramento speaking engagement and his case.

"No one's talking about the Yee case. It's pretty much an 'over' issue," said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Loundermon, a spokesman at U.S. Southern Command in Miami. "He can tell you what he wants to tell you."

Though the military has deemed Yee's case "over," the chaplain's story continues to reverberate.

Area Muslims believe the government singled out Yee because of his religion.

"I do think it was a witch hunt," said Frank Johnson, a 53-year-old Pocket resident who attended Saturday's event. "If you say you're Muslim, it's almost like you're open to harassment."

Yee's case also has become a flash point for Chinese Americans. A host for Cantonese-language talk radio in the Bay Area made it the focus of her show. The Chinese American Political Action Committee, active in the Sacramento area, co-sponsored an online petition asking the Army to apologize to Yee.

"As Chinese Americans, we need to speak out," Ng, of the Organization of Chinese Americans, said Saturday. "We should all be treated equally."

Chinese American activist Alberta Lee, 31, was asked to present Yee's award, but couldn't because she was out of town.

Lee, a University of California, Davis, law student, is the daughter of Wen Ho Lee, a nuclear scientist formerly at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Wen Ho Lee was suspected of spying, but the case against him largely fell apart. He received a rare apology from a federal judge.

Alberta Lee said she feared from the outset that Yee's case was similar to her father's, particularly when she learned that Yee is Chinese and Muslim.

"My first thought was, 'This is going to be exactly like my dad's case all over again,' " she said. "The government really painted them both to be very sinister people."

On Saturday, Yee addressed the issue of profiling, albeit indirectly. He asked audience members whether they carry copies of a "Know Your Rights" card distributed by CAIR.

"If you don't," he said, pausing, "please get one. You may need it, at least for the next four years."