Lynne Stewart, a New York based human rights lawyer, was convicted on 10th February 2005 on five charges including providing material support to terrorists and defrauding the government. The charges arose as a result of her legal representation of Sheik Omar Ali Abdel Rahman, who was convicted in 1995 of plotting terrorism against the United States. Anti-terrorism legislation and practices in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks have made human rights defenders in the United States increasingly vulnerable to repressive consequences, especially defense attorneys with a commitment to protecting civil liberties. Front Line is concerned that the prosecution of Lynne Stewart was politically motivated (Attorney General Ashcroft had announced Stewart’s arrest on television as a significant development in the fight against terror) and is intended to intimidate lawyers working to defend the rights of those facing terrorism charges. Lynne Stewart is one of twelve cases featured in Front Line USA: Threats, Attacks, Arrests and Harassment of Human Rights Defenders published in May 2004. 
