Tampa, Fla. ? A former college professor is set to enter Tampa’s federal courthouse in shackles and handcuffs today, taking center stage in one of the most anticipated trials of a young and fearful century.

Former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian faces terrorism charges along with eight co-defendants in a case that began percolating a decade ago but took on new meaning and controversy after 9-11. Only four of the nine will be in court as opening arguments begin; the rest are still at large overseas.

Al-Arian and the others face 53 counts including racketeering, conspiracy to kill civilians, money laundering and giving material support to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group. The PIJ has claimed responsibility for at least 100 deaths in Israel, including several Americans. The group is led by former University of South Florida instructor Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, one of the defendants still at large.

But the Al-Arian case has grown to be about more than the people sitting at the defense table. Fueled by debate about civil liberties and homeland security, the saga became a major issue in Florida’s U.S. Senate race last year. And it has prompted concerns that such prosecutions inflame anti-Muslim sentiments.

The 47-year-old Al-Arian, in court documents and in statements after his arrest, argues the government has sought to criminalize his speech and muzzle his unpopular political views. He calls himself a political prisoner.

His wife, Nahla, said in an interview Friday that the case only proves that civil liberties and academic freedom are under siege by an overzealous government after 9-11.

“Unfortunately, the government exploited the atmosphere of fear, hatred and suspicions,” she said. “The great Constitution of this country is under attack.”

But prosecutors are adamant that the indictment is not about Al-Arian’s First Amendment rights to freedom of expression and association. In a trial expected to last at least six months, jurors will have to decide how far Al-Arian took his speech and private conversations, hours of which were secretly recorded by FBI intelligence units.

According to the government, two nonprofits he founded in Tampa – the Islamic Concern Project and the World Islam Studies Enterprise – were used by him and others to secretly fund suicide bombings and to provide cover for suspected or known terrorists who visited the United States in the 1990s. ICP, also known as the Islamic Committee for Palestine, and WISE were once affiliated with the University of South Florida and had annual scholarly conferences and fund-raisers.

It was at one of these gatherings in 1988 that Al-Arian was videotaped shouting, “Death to Israel!” In a 2002 interview with the St. Petersburg Times, he claimed his quote was taken out of its cultural context and he only meant “death” to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.

Long-held suspicions

Al-Arian, who has been held without bail since his arrest, is a permanent U.S. resident but is not a citizen of any nation. Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents, he was raised and educated in Egypt and eventually obtained advanced computer-engineering degrees at North Carolina State University and the University of South Florida. His application for U.S. citizenship is pending.

For much of the past 10 years, Al-Arian was accused and suspected of being a terrorist sympathizer, but he was never charged with actively supporting terrorism. The suspicions were first aired in a series of articles by the Tampa Tribune in 1995 and picked up momentum later through coverage of the government’s detention in 1997 and subsequent deportation of Al-Arian’s brother-in-law, Mazen Al-Najjar.

Muslim community worried

As the trial gears up, Tampa Bay’s Muslim community of about 40,000 is uneasy. Ahmed Bedier, director of communications in Florida for the Council on American Islamic Relations, said he recently met with law-enforcement agencies, fearing a possible backlash.

“We were concerned about how this trial is going to impact anti-Muslim sentiment, and whether that’s going to provoke individuals’ anger and hate crimes against us.”