Immigrants who lived under authoritarian regimes pointed to the “dangerous precedent” being set as the indictments of former President Donald Trump reeked of a two-tiered justice system.
Sunday, when the indictment from Georgia that would see the president charged with conspiracy alongside 18 others was still only anticipated, two speakers from Dissident Project were voicing their mounting concerns.
Joining “Fox & Friends Weekend” host Rachel Campos-Duffy were Jorge Galicia from Venezuela and Tahmineh Dehbozorgi of Iran who have worked with the nonprofit organization to share their experiences from their native countries with American high school students to encourage the preservation of freedom.
“I think I can relate little bit with my situation in Venezuela,” Galicia expressed as he noted the mounting charges against Trump while President Joe Biden and his son Hunter Biden looked to many to be getting away with alleged criminal bribery. “We saw how the main opposition leaders in Venezuela are currently being either incarcerated or being, you know, not allowed to participate in elections.”
Asserting that going after the Republican leader and current frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination was setting a “dangerous precedent,” he continued, “It’s completely scary.”
“However, I don’t think we are in the same situation, which is hopeful in my opinion. I do believe that we can still trust the justice system,” Galicia suggested. “Hopefully Trump is going to receive a fair trial, which is something that we lost completely in Venezuela. We cannot expect something like that to happen in Venezuela. When the regime puts the eye on you, you are done. Here, we’re not yet there, but we could definitely get there if things keep becoming worse.”
Meanwhile, Dehbozorgi, a George Washington University Law School student whose own grandfather had nearly been executed without trial “only because he was a public servant in the previous government before the Islamic Revolution,” already saw signs that the Justice Department had crossed the line.
“I see some of the trends happening in the United States,” she told Campos-Duffy and elaborated, “For example, one thing that particularly really concerned me about the Hunter Biden plea deal was lack of transparency. Obviously, transparency is the hallmark of a democratic system and is protected by our Constitution. The other thing that really concerned me about former President Trump’s indictment was the fact that his attorneys were named as coconspirators.”
“In Iran, a lot of attorneys that represent political opponents are also prosecuted and, in this case, one thing that really concerns me as a law student is I do not want to see attorneys that simply gave legal advice to their clients face criminal charges or being threatened to have their licenses revoked.” added Dehbozorgi.
As it happened, Monday’s indictment from Fulton County Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis had alleged a “criminal racketeering enterprise” had been employed in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state.
Named among the 18 c0-defendants were attorneys for Trump like Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and John Eastman as well as the then-presidents chief of staff Mark Meadows.
Read the indictment for ‘criminal racketeering’ allegation against Trump, 18 others https://t.co/75qc64Nz4H via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) August 15, 2023
All was not dire to the speakers as they advised viewers to heed the lessons being imparted and, as Galicia suggested, “…care about your rights, to go out there and protest whenever you see something that is not right.”
“Take care of your rights, protect your freedom. You can easily lose it if you don’t do things right. It happened in Venezuela. We were a democratic nation. Not anymore,” he added before Dehbozorgi spoke similarly, “40 years ago, Iran was a liberal country, but right now we’re living under one of the most tyrannical regimes in the world. Therefore, I think it’s important to continue fighting for liberty in America.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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