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Fearing a 65-year-old mother of nine awaiting sentencing on terrorism-related charges could become a "cause celèbre" if freed from a halfway house for 10 hours, prosecutors have asked a judge to deny the woman's request to be let out.
Attorneys for Hawo Mohamed Hassan -- one of two Rochester women convicted last year of conspiring to raise money for the Somali group al-Shabaab -- had asked for the brief furlough so she could attend an Aug. 19 prayer service and meal to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Defense attorneys Randolph Daar and Bruce Nestor said that Hassan, who once was a teacher in her native Somalia, "would refrain from any public speaking or fundraising" while out, and that the woman's probation caseworker had no objections.
But two prosecutors warned Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis that letting Hassan out, even briefly, could inflame the Somali Muslim community.
"Even though counsel represents that Hassan would not raise funds or give speeches, she could readily become a cause celèbre in such a setting, whether she does anything to further that end or not," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Paulsen and Justice Department lawyer Steven Ward in their memorandum.
"The Somali Muslim community includes those who support Ms. Hassan and those who do not," they wrote. "Ms. Hassan's reappearance in the community is likely to spark controversy, the consequences of which would prove antithetical to Ms. Hassan's interests.
Ms. Hassan could become embroiled in a public spectacle with al-Shabaab supporters that adversely affects her sentencing."
They said "of equal concern is the jeopardy to Ms. Hassan's personal safety posed by the potential for confrontation with members of the community who harbor strong sentiments against al-Shabaab."
Hassan and Amina Farah Ali, who turns 36 on Wednesday, Aug. 8, were convicted in October of conspiring to raise money for al-Shabaab, a group fighting Somalia's U.N.-backed government.
Hassan also was convicted of two counts of lying to the FBI, while Ali was found guilty of 12 counts of providing support to the group. In February 2008, the State Department declared al-Shabaab a foreign terrorist organization, making it a crime to provide aid. Each could face up to 30 years in prison.
No sentencing date has been set. Both women are in a halfway house in St. Paul.
On Aug. 2, Daar and Nestor asked Davis to grant their client a 10-hour furlough to observe the end of Ramadan. During the monthlong period, Muslims are supposed to exhibit piety and fast during daylight hours.
The fast is broken during a three-day celebration at the end of Ramadan known as Eid al-Fitr. (The precise end of Ramadan is based on lunar observations, and this year it could end on Aug. 18 or 19.)
At the start of the three-day period, Muslims gather to pray at a service called Eid al-Adha. One such gathering is at the Minneapolis Convention Center, and Hassan's attorneys asked that a "respected teacher and member of the Muslim community" be allowed to pick her up from the halfway house at 6:30 a.m. Aug. 19 and take her to the convention center.
They would then go to a local restaurant for a meal with family and friends. She would be returned to the halfway house at 5 p.m.
Paulsen and Ward argued that Hassan "forfeited the right to unrestricted access to her community and family" when she was found guilty.
David Hanners can be reached at 612-338-6516.
Source: Twin Cities Pionerr Press
Attorneys for Hawo Mohamed Hassan -- one of two Rochester women convicted last year of conspiring to raise money for the Somali group al-Shabaab -- had asked for the brief furlough so she could attend an Aug. 19 prayer service and meal to mark the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Defense attorneys Randolph Daar and Bruce Nestor said that Hassan, who once was a teacher in her native Somalia, "would refrain from any public speaking or fundraising" while out, and that the woman's probation caseworker had no objections.
But two prosecutors warned Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis that letting Hassan out, even briefly, could inflame the Somali Muslim community.
"Even though counsel represents that Hassan would not raise funds or give speeches, she could readily become a cause celèbre in such a setting, whether she does anything to further that end or not," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Paulsen and Justice Department lawyer Steven Ward in their memorandum.
"The Somali Muslim community includes those who support Ms. Hassan and those who do not," they wrote. "Ms. Hassan's reappearance in the community is likely to spark controversy, the consequences of which would prove antithetical to Ms. Hassan's interests.
Ms. Hassan could become embroiled in a public spectacle with al-Shabaab supporters that adversely affects her sentencing."
They said "of equal concern is the jeopardy to Ms. Hassan's personal safety posed by the potential for confrontation with members of the community who harbor strong sentiments against al-Shabaab."
Hassan and Amina Farah Ali, who turns 36 on Wednesday, Aug. 8, were convicted in October of conspiring to raise money for al-Shabaab, a group fighting Somalia's U.N.-backed government.
Hassan also was convicted of two counts of lying to the FBI, while Ali was found guilty of 12 counts of providing support to the group. In February 2008, the State Department declared al-Shabaab a foreign terrorist organization, making it a crime to provide aid. Each could face up to 30 years in prison.
No sentencing date has been set. Both women are in a halfway house in St. Paul.
On Aug. 2, Daar and Nestor asked Davis to grant their client a 10-hour furlough to observe the end of Ramadan. During the monthlong period, Muslims are supposed to exhibit piety and fast during daylight hours.
The fast is broken during a three-day celebration at the end of Ramadan known as Eid al-Fitr. (The precise end of Ramadan is based on lunar observations, and this year it could end on Aug. 18 or 19.)
At the start of the three-day period, Muslims gather to pray at a service called Eid al-Adha. One such gathering is at the Minneapolis Convention Center, and Hassan's attorneys asked that a "respected teacher and member of the Muslim community" be allowed to pick her up from the halfway house at 6:30 a.m. Aug. 19 and take her to the convention center.
They would then go to a local restaurant for a meal with family and friends. She would be returned to the halfway house at 5 p.m.
Paulsen and Ward argued that Hassan "forfeited the right to unrestricted access to her community and family" when she was found guilty.
David Hanners can be reached at 612-338-6516.
Source: Twin Cities Pionerr Press
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