Posted on 10/17/2011 8:45:26 PM PDT by Hunton Peck
As the jury in the trial of two Rochester Somali women accused of supporting terrorists overseas began deliberations late Monday, a large group of the women's supporters held a court of their own outside the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis.
They decried the charges and the surveillance methods FBI agents used in their investigation of Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, both U.S. citizens who are the first to be tried in connection with one of the most extensive counterterrorism inquiries since the Sept. 11 attacks.
"All Somalis around the world are listening to this case," shouted Abdinasir Abdi, who led the impromptu protest. "If these women go free, we are going to trust the system. If not, we will always be suspicious of the government. Free our women! Free the humanitarian workers!"
"Yeah!" responded the mostly female crowd in unison.
For many, the trial is seen as a litmus test for relations between the Somali community and government.
The outcry surprised Omar Jamal, a longtime Somali community activist who has attended the trial regularly.
"The reaction from the community is quite unimaginable. Anger, frustration, disappointment," he said. "I have seen women crying; I have seen men very emotional."
It's an indication of how symbolic this case has become for people in the Somali diaspora.
"Everybody is watching this," Jamal said. "This is a very important and a very crucial case."
Ali, 35, is charged with conspiracy and providing material support to a known foreign terrorist organization for allegedly funneling money to Al-Shabab.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
MN ping.
You shout that in your homeland of Somalia and you lose your lips, perhaps your head, skinny.
Hang they high so all can see.
Yes, and with luck, they will get the message to stay home.
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We should take advantage of this and give instructions about the usage of toilet paper, soap and deodorant.
Yup, I’d rather be a Somali facing Minnesotan justice than a Minnesotan facing Somali justice.
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