Sam Zherka/Bennett Gershman/Janet Difiore.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Guardian Publisher Sam Zherka Responds To Law Professor Bennett Gershman

Bennett Gershman, the Pace Law professor, has taken the easy way out by assailing Sam Zherka, for exercising his Constitutional right by criticizing nearly every politician in Westchester County, including life-long Republican, District Attorney Janet DiFiore. What Bennett Gershman forgot to mention is that Janet DiFiore, and her husband, Dennis Glazer, who was accused of trying to bribe the Right-To-Life Party candidate for District Attorney in 2005, make large contributions to Pace University, and sit on the Board of Directors. In essence, Janet DiFiore is Bennett Gershman’s boss.

In an editorial written in the Journal News, Gershman attempts to spin the truth by painting District Attorney Janet DiFiore as a professional and responsible DA who plays by the rules. The job of the District Attorney is to seek justice, not just a conviction, or DiFiore Justice, but the justice guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Rule of Law. The unlawful prosecution of Irma Marquez, an innocent home health aide, who was brutally beaten nearly to death is just one of the many civil rights violations Janet DiFiore, the current DA, was involved in.

What does Mr. Gershman, the Pace Con-Law professor, say to the family of Rui Florim, a Portuguese restaurant worker who was brutally tortured by six Yonkers Police officers for over an hour, netting him 72 stitches, a fractured skull, lacerations and bruises all over his body, then prosecuted by Janet DiFiore without ever committing a crime? How would you feel if Rui was your son?

Mr. Gershman, what do you say to Kian Khatibi’s mother, whose innocent son was released this year after suffering in prison for over nine years for a crime he did not commit? Janet DiFiore, as a judge, was one of the culprits involved in stripping this young man of his freedom by denying his 440.10 Motion almost nine years ago. Up until the day of his release, DiFiore fought hard to keep this innocent man in prison.

Janet DiFiore’s very close relationship with Peter Viviano, a man with close ties to the Genovese Crime Family, is alarming and an eye-opener. Her solicitation and acceptance of tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from the Gabelli Fund, which the federal government accused of Fraud, and who was forced to fork over nearly 150 million dollars of public funds, tells us who Janet DiFiore really is.

Janet DiFiore, who was entrusted with the power to affect peoples’ lives, liberty and reputations, is the same DA who, on March 21, 2007 after The Westchester Guardian published an article revealing corruption on her behalf and her husband’s, called Sam Zherka on the phone and threatened Zherka and his family, saying, “How would you like it if someone came a er your family”.

Mr. Gershman needs to know that, when asked whether she threatened Sam Zherka and his family on the phone, she responded “I don’t recall” in court documents her lawyers submitted on her behalf. I would ask Mr. Gershman, “Are these the actions of a servant of the law and a representative of the People who defends the rights and liberties of all citizens with vigor?”

Mr. Gershman asks what Sam Zherka’s motivation is. As the son of Albanian immigrants whose father spent over a decade in Communist concentration camps under torture, and whose mother was beaten every day for over three years for demanding freedom and liberty, Sam Zherka’s motivation is exactly that, the guarantee of freedom and liberty for me, my eight children, my family and all people. I want to inspire people to participate in the political process, to ask more questions, and to demand answers from our public servants; to teach our family, friends and children to scorn injustice and falsehood.

The United States Constitution is not an instrument for the Government to restrain the People, but an instrument for the People to restrain the
Government. Mr. Gershman’s allegations that Sam Zherka has insinuated himself into the DA’s primary race are absolutely true. As an American-born citizen of this great country, it is my Constitutional right and duty to insinuate myself into every elected race especially when one of the candidates is a direct threat to the fabric of freedom and liberty.

As for any investigation by any authority, whether it be Janet DiFiore’s friends at the Manhattan DA’s office or any agency, I openly challenge anyone who can say Sam Zherka has ever committed a crime other than the exercise of Free Speech, which apparently to some in power in Westchester County is a crime.Mr. Gershman, as a professor of law and the Constitution, you should be ashamed of yourself for siding with opportunity over righteousness, politics over dignity, influence over Civil Rights and our Constitutional freedoms. Remember the words of Benjamin Franklin: “They who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Sam Zherka, Publisher, The Westchester Guardian