CHICAGO, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- Global Relief Foundation, a Muslim charity whose assets were frozen last year because of suspected links to terrorism, is suing federal authorities and accusing the Bush administration of illegally seizing its records.
The Justice Department has frozen an estimated $80 million in assets of 168 individuals and organizations since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Lawyers for Global Relief, the nation's second-largest Muslim charity, said in court documents the organization cannot pay $100,000 in bills. It also can't 15 employees at its headquarters in southwest suburban Bridgeview.
The suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court names Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. It seeks an injunction to unfreeze $900,000 in assets that were frozen on Dec. 14 and the return of seized property and documents that could exonerate Global Relief.
The Patriot Act, passed after the attacks, allows the government to freeze assets of organizations without a hearing while they are under investigation for possible links to terrorists.
"The government has made no charges against GRF and has not given it a day in court to prove its innocence," foundation attorney Roger Simmons told Tuesday's Chicago Sun-Times.
Simmons said Global Relief chairman Rabih Haddad remains in federal detention in solitary confinement on immigration violations.
The fund, which gave $20 million to humanitarian groups in 20 countries last year, and the Benevolence International Foundation, an Islamic charity based in Palos Hills, deny any connection to Osama bin Laden or any terrorist group. Both charities have been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury.
