Two Somali women jailed for financing Shaboobs
Two women who used an internet chat room to raise several thousand dollars for the Somali militant group al-Shabab have been sentenced to prison.
Muna Osman Jama, 36, of Reston, Virginia, and Hinda Osman Dhirane,
...dear Hinda, a mother of six, was the group's poetess. Her Ode to Al Shabaab was read into the court record, there to sit for all eternity... | 46, of Kent, Washington, had previously been convicted of providing support to a terrorist organization.
The ladies, emirs of the international Group of Fifteen, were arrested in July, 2014. | On Friday, Jama was sentenced to 12 years and Dhirane to 11 years.
Prosecutors had said the women used the chat room to round up small contributions on behalf of al-Shabab.
The women did not deny their sympathies for al-Shabab. But their defense lawyers argued that the money they raised went to people who were not clearly defined members of al-Shabab.
All the money went to the Widows Ammunition Fund... | The defense also raised First Amendment issues, saying their advocacy for al-Shabab should not be fodder for a criminal conviction.
Yes, it should. One of these years we will get serious, and pass that into law. |
Posted by: Steve White 2017-04-02 |