Grand Jury Questions To Bedier Not Out Of Ordinary

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI The Tampa Tribune

Published: Aug 31, 2007

TAMPA - Muslim community spokesman Ahmed Bedier said his testimony before a federal grand jury centered on publicly known information about two University of South Florida students who were arrested in South Carolina.

"Nothing in there seemed out of the ordinary that wouldn't have happened at a news conference," said Bedier, who appeared before the panel Wednesday at the U.S. District courthouse on North Florida Avenue in downtown Tampa. "They didn't ask me anything I couldn't answer."

The grand jury has asked for DNA and hair samples from one of the students, Youssef Megahed, according to his attorney, Andrew Savage. Megahed and Ahmed Mohamed were pulled over for speeding in South Carolina on Aug. 4 about seven miles from the Goose Creek Naval Weapons Station, which houses a military prison for enemy combatants. The students were charged with possession of an incendiary or explosive device, based in part on items found in the trunk of their car, authorities said. Mohamed said they were carrying fireworks.

Bedier, who is executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, has emerged as an informal spokesman for the Megahed family. The most visible Muslim leader in the Tampa area, Bedier often speaks on behalf of Islamic citizens and causes.

Bedier said all the questions he received from grand jurors centered on the two students and their families.

"I've been in contact with some of the family members," Bedier explained. "I'm not a lawyer; I wasn't acting as their lawyer; There was no privileged conversations. [They wanted to know] what somebody might have said to me and things like that."

Grand jurors wanted to know what he told the family members and "how I found out about the situation, how did I know the families and when did they reach out to me … I think they probably didn't know whether I knew the individuals or didn't. … When we set that straight, there was nothing to ask about the individuals."

Bedier said he never met Mohamed and knew Megahed only casually, having met him a few times at public events and exchanged pleasantries.

Bedier said he did not want to disclose all the grand jurors' specific questions because he did not want to compromise the process.

Grand juries meet in secret by law. Witnesses are permitted to discuss their testimony, but attorneys and prosecutors involved in the process are not supposed to disclose information about the hearings.

Bedier was supportive of the conduct of the investigation.

"As far as you know in this day and age, we don't have a choice but support thorough investigation, and it seems like that's what's happening in this situation," he said.

"People are not taking any chances in the environment we're living in, and who can blame them? The evidence will lead to the truth."

Bedier said the U.S. attorney's office has been "very professional" and is "not cutting corners" in the judicial system.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7839 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.