The woman known to some as Mama Amina, who collected clothing to send to the needy in Somalia, was sentenced to 20 years in prison Thursday, May 16. Amina Alis crime: Aside from the clothing she gathered, she also raised money -- about $14,000 -- for the Islamic terror group al-Shabaab, which has spent seven years fighting Somalias nascent governments. The amount was tiny compared to al-Shabaabs estimated annual revenues of up to $100 million, but federal law bars sending anything. Ali is 36, and under the way the federal system handles prison sentences, shell be 53 before she can be released. Given a chance to speak by Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis, Ali never apologized, repeating a quiet defiance she had displayed in October 2011 when she and co-defendant Hawo Hassan went on trial in Minneapolis for raising money for al-Shabaab. Everything I have done, I have done because I was trying to do good, Ali told the judge through an interpreter. My intention was to alleviate the suffering of the people. I was trying to make their life a little easier. But a jury found that her fundraising was an act supporting terrorism and convicted her of conspiracy and 12 counts of providing material support in the form of $8,608 in payments she sent between September 2008 and July 2009. Working out of her Rochester home, Ali organized clothing drives and telephone conference calls aimed at raising money. She also directed people to send the money to al-Shabaab contacts she knew in Somalia. Davis 20-year sentence -- and the 10-year sentence meted out to Hassan, 66 -- stands in contrast to the three-year sentences the judge handed out earlier this week to three local men who actually went to Somalia and took up arms for al-Shabaab. The 20-year sentence for Ali is what government lawyers had asked for; they had sought a 15-year term for Hassan. Afterward, John Carlin, the acting assistant attorney general for national security, said the sentences underscore our commitment to dismantle networks that route funding and fighters from the United States to the al-Shabaab terror organization. But the long prison terms did not sit well with local Somalis or the womens attorneys. Theres no excuse for that sentence, Alis attorney Dan Scott said flatly. The real question is, the judge has said on more than one occasion that he intended to send a message to the Somali community. He has, and it is up to the Somali community to decide what that message is. Hassan Mohamud, imam at the Minnesota DaWah Institute in St. Paul, sat through the sentencings and said he was troubled by the length of the prison terms. Were disappointed. Many, many members of the Somali community do not agree, he said. These two females should be released, Mohamud said. Whatever they did, they did to aid the poor, needy and orphans. The only source they had was the diaspora. The court proceedings involving the two Rochester women capped a week in which Davis sentenced nine people on al-Shabaab-related charges. On Monday, he sent a former trucker to prison for 20 years for raising money to help young men travel from the Twin Cities to Somalia, and he sentenced one of the men who traveled abroad to 10 years. On Tuesday, another man who traveled got a 14-year sentence, while three others got three years. In a sentencing earlier Thursday, a man who didnt travel abroad but helped some of those who did got a two-year sentence. All the cases except that of Ali and Hassan stemmed from Operation Rhino, the FBIs investigation into the exodus of young men from the Twin Cities Somali community to return to Somalia to fight for al-Shabaab. Federal officials estimate more than 20 have gone, and some have died in fighting or suicide bombings. Somalia is an East African country of 9.5 million that fell into chaos following a 1988 civil war. Among the groups that arose in an attempt to control the country was al-Shabaab, which sought to institute rule based upon a fundamentalist brand of Islam. Several countries, backed by the U.N., set up a Transitional Federal Government based in neighboring Kenya. Ethiopian troops entered the country to help the TFG wrest control of the capital and much of southern Somalia from al-Shabaab. Ethiopia and Somalia share a border and long-simmering animosities that have times erupted into war. Many Somalis viewed the troops arrival as an invasion, and al-Shabaab used that as a recruiting tool. The groups call for jihadists stretched to Minnesota, home to an estimated 36,000 people of Somali descent. In all, 18 people were charged in Operation Rhino. Eight are fugitives and two are believed dead. One took his case to trial and was found guilty; the rest reached plea deals with the government. Ali and Hassan were not part of the Rhino investigation. Davis had scheduled their sentencing hearings for last, and the courtroom was packed with Somali immigrants for both. Ali and Hassan were sentenced after each -- and their lawyers -- got a chance to address the judge. And the judge had questions for each, designed in part to find out whether they were still committed to the cause. At times, the judges questions veered into territory not often heard during sentencings. He asked about their manner of dress and, at one point, lamented of Hassan, I have not heard her say she loves America. Under prompting by her lawyer, Hassan did say she loved her adopted homeland. It was the only country that offered us aid, offered to help, she said. Both women had lived arduous lives as refugees before coming to America, and their stories were similar to those of other Somali immigrants -- families torn apart and victimized by al-Shabaab or a transitional government that even the U.N. conceded was corrupt. At one point, Hassans lawyer, Randy Daar of San Francisco, got frustrated that the judge was expressing dissatisfaction with his clients answers about whether she kept up on Somali politics after moving here. Youre asking her about politicians in Somalia, and she doesnt even know where most of her children are, the lawyer said. Hassan was convicted of conspiracy and of lying to the FBI. When it was her turn to speak, she was contrite. I admitted that I lied, she said. Id like to apologize to the court and to the officers I lied to and to the public. The judge asked her why she lied to the agents. She said it was something left over from the distrust of government that she got growing up in Somalia. Because of the system, we did not always tell the truth, she said. Both women said they had humanitarian goals in mind in collecting clothes and money to send to Somalia. But federal prosecutors disputed those claims, noting the transcripts of telephone calls that were entered into evidence at their trial that showed they knew they were dealing with al-Shabaab. What she was doing was supporting further violence, further famine and further deprivation, all in the name of al-Shabaab, Justice Department lawyer Steven Ward said of Ali. We actually gave her sanctuary from her life in Somalia, and how did she react to that?, he asked. She repudiated America. David Hanners can be reached at 612-338-6516.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 21:27:40 +0000
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