Vol. 75/No. 41      November 14, 2011

The U.S. government designated al-Shabab as a “terrorist organization” in 2008. The group is at war with the U.S.- and U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government, which controls the capital, Mogadishu.

Amina Farah Ali, 35, and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, 64, were each charged with conspiracy to provide material support to a designated terrorist organization. Ali also faced 12 counts of sending $8,608 to al-Shabab, and Hassan faced one count of support to a foreign terrorist organization and two counts of lying to the FBI. Both were found guilty of all counts.

More than 150 Somalis gathered outside the courthouse the day of the convictions to support Ali and Hassan, reported the Pioneer Press.

Each terrorism charge carries a 15-year maximum prison sentence, while lying to the FBI carries an eight-year maximum. The two could face a maximum of 30 years in prison, according to federal sentencing guidelines.

Both U.S. citizens, Ali and Hassan organized door-to-door fund-raising and held teleconferences, they say to garner humanitarian aid.

Somalia, which has had no functioning government for two decades, is stricken with drought, famine and displacement. As many as 3.7 million are at risk of starvation, the majority in the al-Shabab-controlled south, according to the U.N.

The trial is part of one of the largest so-called counterterrorism investigations in the U.S. Over a 10-month period the FBI wiretapped some 30,000 phone calls, and carried out searches of the two women’s computers and emails, homes and trash.

Much of the “evidence” presented to the jury consisted of government-translated selections of parts of conversations and FBI testimony.

Hassan’s right to remain silent or have an attorney present during FBI questioning was violated by FBI Special Agent Kevin McGrane. The agent claimed that he did not read her rights because she was not in custody. “I usually give my interviewees enough rope to hang themselves,” McGrane said to the court.
 
 
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