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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/37571/full/37571/video-raises-questions-about-recall-of-student-senator/ <br /><br /> <b>Video raises questions about recall of student senator</b> <br /> Thursday, March 19, 2009 | by dan pine <br /><br /><p>A newly surfaced video could lead to the undoing of the recall of U.C. Berkeley student senator John Moghtader.</p> <p>The pro-Israel activist lost his senate post after a special election in February, despite months of protesting his innocence. The case against Moghtader stemmed largely from his alleged participation in a campus fight between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students last November.</p> <p>All along, Moghtader had access to a video shot during the fracas that reportedly shows him at the scene of the incident but making no aggressive moves. His accusers claimed he had physically assaulted a woman allied with the pro-Palestinian group, a charge apparently disproved by the video.</p> <p>Moghtader recently screened the video for U.C. Berkeley student Attorney General Michael Sinanian and reporters at the Daily Californian, the U.C. Berkeley newspaper. On advice from his attorney, Moghtader has not yet made the video public.</p> <p>After seeing the video, Sinanian filed a motion with the student-run judicial council March 12 seeking to invalidate the recall, claiming the charges against Moghtader were based on false evidence.</p> <p>“In light of the recently revealed evidence, the degree of injustice committed upon Senator Moghtader ... is disturbingly grave,” Sinanian wrote to the council, according to the Daily Californian. “It is in the hands of the Judicial Council to restore justice (and his Senate seat) to him.”</p> <p>The council has agreed to hear the case, though no timetable is set.</p> <p>Why didn’t Moghtader release the video months ago, when it might have swayed student voters?</p> <p>“I wanted to release it all along,” Moghtader told j. “It would show I was innocent. I was talking to lawyers and various people about potential libel suits, and I was advised against releasing it. At this point, now that the election happened, I made a decision there’s no point in not releasing it.”</p> <p>Moghtader declined to say who shot the video or who currently has possession of it.</p> <p>According to student government sources quoted in the Daily Californian, Sinanian faces an uphill battle to invalidate the election, due to procedural rules. But should his case prove successful, the members of Students for Justice in Palestine who accused Moghtader could stand before the university’s Center for Student Conduct and Community Standards.</p> <p>U.C. Berkeley Dean of Students Jonathan Poullard said if that were to happen, any proceedings and results would be kept confidential.</p> <p>“Once received, they go through an investigatory process,” Poullard said. “The vast majority of sanctions are handled informally. Last year we had 807 cases of misconduct and of them only about 20 went to a formal hearing.</p> <p>“We are not a court of law. We are an educational institution. Even if there is a violation, it is handled from an educational perspective. That does not mean consequences could not mean suspension or expulsion.”</p> <p>Moghtader intends to hold his accusers’ feet to the fire.</p> <p>“They should be held accountable to the fullest extent of criminal law and student conduct,” he said. “They put me through a miserable situation, and the campus too. It’s not like they misremembered what happened.</p> <p>“Their statements were blatant fabrications designed to smear me. I’m not a legal expert, but I imagine if you’re running to [the campus police] telling abhorrent lies, there’s accountability for that.”</p>

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