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Two Somali women jailed for financing Shaboobs

2017-04-02

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.

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Two Women Convicted in US of Financing Al-Shabab

2016-10-27

Two women who U.S. prosecutors say led an online group in raising money to support the Somali insurgent group al-Shabab were convicted by a federal judge Tuesday following a trial in U.S. District Court in Virginia. Ramona Muna Osman Jama, 36, and Harriett Hinda Osman Dhirane, 46, ...dear Hinda is the group's poetess. Her Ode to Al Shabaab was read into the court record, there to sit for all eternity... were found guilty of organizing the so-called Group of Fifteen women from eight countries that helped finance al-Shabab military operations and safehouses in Somalia and Kenya, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Eastern Virginia. “These women funneled money to a terrorist organization which was conducting a violent insurgency campaign in Somalia,” U.S. Attorney Dana Boente said in a written statement. “National security is the top priority in this office and we will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute those who provide material support to terrorists,” Boente said. It was not clear who represented the two women in the proceedings. "Go away." Prosecutors said Jama and Dhirane sent the money they raised through the chat room to financiers of al-Shabab in Somalia and Kenya, referred to as the “Hargeisa side” and the “Nairobi side,” respectively. Jama, of Reston, Virginia, and Dhirane, of Kent, Washington, were arrested in July 2014, along with a third woman, Francine Farhia Hassan, who was taken into custody in the Netherlands. At the time of those arrests, two other women accused of being involved in the operation, Fiona Fardowsa Jama Mohamed and Beatrice Barira Hassan Abdullahi, were named as fugitives. The Group of Fifteen included women from Somalia, Kenya, Egypt, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Canada, as well as Minneapolis, according to evidence at trial. Prosecutors said recorded calls between the Group of Fifteen showed that they had close contacts with al-Shabab leadership and that its members were heard laughing about 2013 attacks on the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi and the Boston Marathon. Jama and Dhirane were each convicted of conspiracy and providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and face a maximum of 15 years in prison when they are sentenced in January.

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Somali Woman Arrested in USA for Funding Shaboobs

2016-07-22

A woman accused of funneling money to the al-Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab willingly admitted that she is an ardent supporter of the Somalia-based terrorist organization on the first day of her trial. Her defense attorney, Paula Deutsch, has acknowledged that her client supports the jihadist group, arguing that does not prove that she provided financial aid to the al Shabaab terrorists. All her client did was “talk” about supporting al Shabaab without taking action, argues her public defender. All we'll "talk" about doing is jugging her for 30 years... In July 2014, Hinda Osman Dhirane, 44 years old and a mother of six, was arrested at her home in Kent, Washington, “on charges of providing material support to al-Shabaab, a designated foreign terrorist organization that is conducting a violent insurgency campaign in Somalia,” reported the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Her trial, which is taking place at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, began on July 11. Court records show Dhirane funneled small amounts of money to the terrorist group to avoid detection — as low as $50 or $100 at a time, for a total of less than $5,000. Good enough for me. Guilty! During the trial, Dhirane’s attorney said her client’s support for al Shabaab stems from Somalia’s history of corrupt and, at times, nonexistent government. Somalis “saw al-Shabaab as the hope to establish peace and order and a Sharia system of law,” declared Deutsch. So stay in Somalia and fight with the Shaboobs. The moment you step on American soil you do things our way, and we don't support terrorist organizations. Deutsch, began her opening statement Monday reading parts of a poem Dhirane had written as an ode to al-Shabab fighters. Deutsch knows that she has a stinker of a case... “We make no bones about the fact she was a supporter of al-Shabaab,” an al-Qaida affiliate centered in Somalia that claimed responsibility for the 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall in Kenya that killed 67 people, among other attacks, Deutsch said. “But it’s talk. It doesn’t prove that she necessarily provided substantial assistance to al-Shabaab.” $5,000 is substantial. However, prosecutors accuse Dhirane and her co-defendant Muna Osman Jama, 34, of more than talking about supporting the terrorist organization. Jama was arrested on the same day as Dhirane, only she was at her home in Reston, VA. Although they were only supplying the group with relatively small amounts of U.S. dollars, prosecutors reportedly say it was enough to “provide significant buying power in Somalia for weapons and the like,” notes AP. The Widows Ammunition Fund thanked her... According to court records, defendants Muna Osman Jama and Hinda Osman Dhirane were the leaders of an al-Shabaab fundraising conspiracy operating in the United States, Kenya, the Netherlands, Somalia and elsewhere. Jama and Dhirane allegedly directed a network composed primarily of women who provided monthly payments that were coordinated, facilitated and tracked by the defendants to their conduits in Kenya and Somalia… The defendants would refer to the money they sent overseas as “living expenses,” and they repeatedly used code words such as “orphans” and “brothers in the mountains” to refer to al-Shabaab fighters, and “camels” to refer to trucks needed by al-Shabaab. They hid the money in remittances that Somalis regularly send back to their native country, reportedly noted prosecutor Danya Atiyeh in her opening statement during the July 11 trial. Atiyeh explained that the remittances “make an ideal cover for disguising money. ” She quoted Jama as saying in 2012: “If you work with the women and pretend that you are supporting your family, can the infidels and the animals who work with them find out what is in your heart?” The DOJ did not reveal the women’s immigration status or whether they were born in the United States.

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Trial begins for Virginia, Washington women accused of fundraising for Al Qaeda affiliate

2016-07-13

[NYDAILYNEWS] For a woman accused of supporting the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... , Hinda Osman Dhirane began her trial with an unusual admission: she is an ardent Al-Shabaab supporter. Dhirane's attorney, federal public defender Paula Deutsch, began her opening statement Monday reading parts of a poem Dhirane had written as an ode to Al-Shabaab fighters. "We make no bones about the fact she was a supporter of Al-Shabaab," an Al Qaeda affiliate centered in Somalia that grabbed credit for the 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall in Kenya that killed 67 people, among other attacks, Deutsch said. "But it's talk. It doesn't prove that she necessarily provided substantial assistance to Al-Shabaab." Prosecutors, though, say Dhirane, 46, of Kent, Wash., and Muna Osman Jama, 36, of Reston, Va., did more than just talk about supporting Al-Shabaab. The two were charged in 2014 with funneling small amounts of money -- less than $5,000 -- to Al-Shabaab fundraisers. Even small amounts of money in U.S. dollars can provide significant buying power in Somalia for weapons and the like, prosecutors said. Prosecutor Danya Atiyeh said in her opening statement that the women sought to hide the payments in remittances that members of the Somali diaspora regularly send back to their homeland. The remittances, she said, "make an ideal cover for disguising money," Atiyeh said. She quoted Jama from an online conversation in 2012; "If you work with the women and pretend that you are supporting your family, can the infidels and the animals who work with them find out what is in your heart?"

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Minnesota woman linked to backing terrorism in Virginia case

2016-07-03

A Minnesota woman charged with supporting east African militant group al-Shabab is helping the federal government’s case against the ringleaders of a network of women who have sent thousands of dollars overseas to an organization the U.S. says is involved in terrorism. Amina Mohamud Esse ...whose ancestors likely didn't emigrate from Sweden... pleaded guilty to the charge in November 2014, according to case records that were unsealed Thursday. Allegedly part of a group of women organized online, prosecutors said Esse had sent roughly $500 overseas to a woman in Kenya, knowing the funds would eventually make their way to al-Shabab. It adds another layer to the string of cases involving terrorism recruitment and support in Minnesota, home to the largest Somali population outside of the eastern Africa country. More than 20 young men have left the state since 2007 to join al-Shabab in Somalia, and roughly a dozen people have left in recent years to join militants in Syria. The U.S. District Court of Minnesota kept the proceedings in Esse’s case private, as local District Attorney Andrew Luger’s office worried that divulging the details of her charges and her cooperation with the federal government could imperil the case against some of the ringleaders of the online group, who were also arrested in 2014. “Al-Shabaab members and associates would obviously not accept or trust the defendant if they knew she had been charged and was cooperating with the FBI,” a court filing said. But some of the records were unsealed this week as the trial against Muna Osman Jama and Hinda Osman Dhirane is set to begin in Virginia’s U.S. District Court on July 11. Esse is listed in the government’s scheduled witnesses for the trial against the two women, according to court records. Ben Petok, a spokesman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota, declined to comment. Esse’s attorney did not return a voicemail seeking comment. Jama and Dhirane were arrested in June 2014 and charged with 20 counts of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization. Jama herself allegedly sent more than $3,300 overseas meant to help al-Shabab. Three others overseas were also charged, including their alleged point of contact in Nairobi. According to the charges, Esse sent $500 overseas between December 2011 and April 2012 — payments that were shepherded by Jama, who was then living in Virginia. Internet chat logs between Esse and Jama submitted by the federal government ahead of the trial show the pair of women discussing how to recruit more women to contribute money to their cause. In an April 2012 conversation, Esse expressed concern to Jama about being caught. “Sister, I told you, do not connect me to anyone till we get to know the person well. . . . Do you want me to get arrested?” Esse wrote. In exchange for her guilty plea and providing information against the other women, Esse was put on probation and banned from traveling outside of Minnesota, according to court records. She was also required to submit for a mental health evaluation.

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Three women arrested in US for financing Shaboobs

2014-07-25

Three women were arrested Wednesday, in the United States and Netherlands, for allegedly giving financial help to Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab, authorities said. Since the United States deems the group a terrorist organisation, such aid is a crime for which Muna Osman Jama, 34, was arrested at her home in Reston, Virginia, the Justice Department said in a statement. Hinda Osman Dhirane, 44, was arrested at her home in Kent, Washington; and Farhia Hassan was arrested at hers in the Netherlands; it added. Two additional women were fugitives on the same charges: Fardowsa Jama Mohamed, in Kenya; and Barira Hassan Abdullahi in Somalia, the statement said. The women allegedly sent money transfers as part of a network of small monthly payments. They were charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation and 20 counts of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation. “If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison on each count in the indictment,” the statement warned.

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