I was on a conference call this morning with a group of Muslim apostates and defenders of Rifqa Bary when news came (See: AP report- “Runaway convert back in Ohio after 3-month flight,” ) that a hearing had been held in the Franklin County Ohio Juvenile Court and she was in Ohio foster care custody. The group on the conference call was stunned by these developments that followed a ruling October 23rd which granted jurisdiction in this matter to the Franklin County Ohio Children Services. On October 13th, Judge Daniel Dawson in the Florida 9th Judicial Circuit Court ruled that Rifqa Barry would be returned to Ohio subject to her parents producing valid immigration papers under US Law. A deal that could have saved Rifqa was abandoned by her Florida court appointed Guardian Ad Litem, Ms. Krista Bartholomew, when her parents decided to change counsel.
Near the end of a lengthy hearing in Orlando on October 13th, Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) Krista Bartholomew urged the Court not to allow Rifqa's return to Ohio until the Barys complied with prior Court rulings to submit their immigration papers for review. (It was revealed in a previous hearing that the Barys' visas had expired in 2005.) Judge Daniel Dawson agreed. He ordered attorney Shayan Elahi to produce the papers within ten days or face contempt of court charges; and he asked Bartholomew to file contempt charges with the Court if the deadline passed without the papers. Yet in a strange turn of events, a deal that could have saved Rifqa Bary was botched by the very same Krista Bartholomew.
So what was the deal that was allegedly struck in discussions between Ms. Bartholomew and the Bary’s attorney David Colley? In exchange for the Bary’s consent to State of Ohio Dependency for Rifqa, a Contempt Motion for her parents would not be filed. Before the deal was signed, the Barys fired Counsel David Colley on the grounds that they couldn’t afford to pay him. In his place, a Muslim American attorney, Omar Tarazi, was appointed as counsel for Rifqa’s parents. Instead of Rifqa Bary being declared a dependent of the State of Ohio, put on a fast track for a green card and ultimate US Citizenship, she’s in foster care custody facing a lengthy dependency hearing. Her communications via cell phone and internet have been restricted by a Court ruling. Justice was delayed and denied.
The two Muslim lawyers, Shayan Elahi in Florida and Omar Tarazi in Ohio, appear to have been successful using family laws in both states to return Rifqa Bary to Ohio. The suspicion is that both lawyers are being paid by CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood fronts to stifle apostasy among young American Muslims by using Rifqa Bary as a test case. Why else would Mohamed and Aysha Bary dismiss their Ohio Counsel, David Colley, on the grounds that they couldn’t afford to pay him? After all, Counsel Tarazi costs them nothing.
Rifqa Bary’s Ohio legal team of Kort Gatterdam and Angie Lloyd, an expert in child advocacy law and clinical professor at Ohio State University Law School, may face a daunting task given a tough prosecutor and an outstanding petition by her parents to declare her an “incorrigible child.”
This exchange reported by the AP at today’s Ohio court hearing may be a foreshadowing of the tough legal battles ahead:
The children's services agency had blamed Bary's use of Facebook for her troubles, saying she went to Orlando, Fla., after talking to the Rev. Blake Lorenz, pastor of Global Revolution Church, in an online prayer group.
Bary disappeared July 19 and police used phone and computer records to track her to Lorenz.
"What we want to restrict is the other people, the other organizations, the other forces, that have interjected themselves into this case inappropriately, and has caused the additional problems that we've seen," said Jim Zorn, a children's services attorney, who had asked for tougher supervision that would have restricted Bary from using the Internet and her cell phone.
The girl's parents supported the restrictions, saying through their attorney they were concerned about her interacting with adults over the Internet.
"As you know, there's a lot of danger and concern about that with children," said their attorney, Omar Tarazi.
Kort Gatterdam, an attorney representing the girl, opposed the request, saying problems were caused by a conflict between the girl and her parents, not the Internet.
"We're making some assumptions, without evidence in the record, that she has done something improper talking to people on Facebook. There's no evidence of that," Gatterdam told the judge.
"If the goal here is normalcy and reunification or whatever, this is not the way to go."
According to Pastor Jamal Jivanjee, a friend of Rifqa’s, Rifqa Bary has become an iconic figure to many American Muslim youths and Muslims abroad seeking to leave Islam. He has been inundated with hundreds of emails supporting her cause.
What can be done to secure Rifqa Bary? Her legal team and advisers are looking at a number of possible scenarios. The outcome hangs in the balance, now that justice has been delayed.
