Supporter of terrorist group will leave jail, be confined to his parents' home until sentencing
By David Hanners
dhanners@pioneerpress.com
Two and a half years ago, Kamal Said Hassan admitted to a judge that he provided support to a group trying to overthrow Somalia's shaky government and that he himself had traveled to Africa to join the fight.
Since then, he's been behind bars awaiting sentencing. But Wednesday, over a prosecutor's objections, a federal judge said Hassan could go free until he is sentenced.
He will trade a cell in the Sherburne County Jail for incarceration at his parents' home, though. Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis placed strict conditions on the release, saying Hassan, 26, would be on "24-hour-a-day lockdown" in his parents' home, his whereabouts will be monitored by GPS and all computers in the house will be subject to government search.
"If there is a violation of you being outside the home, if you smell the flowers or look at the birds, you will be taken into custody," the judge told Hassan.
Davis told the defendant he will be released from custody at noon Sept. 28, but as he gave him the news, he began ticking off the lengthy list of conditions. And the judge warned him there'd be no wiggle room.
"You'll sit down with your attorneys, and they'll tell you that even though I have a soft voice, I carry a big stick," Davis told him. "I mean what I say."
Speaking in a clear, strong voice, Hassan assured him he would follow the restrictions.
No date for his sentencing has been set.
When charged in February 2009, Hassan became the first of 20 people
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with Twin Cities ties to be accused of crimes in the exodus of young Somali men to their homeland to fight for al-Shabaab.
A week after the Plymouth resident was charged, he also was the first to enter a guilty plea. Since then, he has provided information to the FBI and been "very truthful," one of his attorneys, Assistant Federal Public Defender Manvir Atwal, told the judge.
Hassan was to be a key witness for the government in the July trial of one suspect, Omer Abdi Mohamed. But at a pretrial hearing a day before trial was to begin, Mohamed pleaded guilty.
After Wednesday's hearing, Atwal said her client was pleased with the judge's decision.
"He's really happy he's out. He's relieved," she said. "Really relieved."
Hassan's wife, his father, mother and sister were seated in the courtroom. The father, Siyad Hassan, stood and told the judge the family agreed to conditions of the release, particularly the one that allows government agents to monitor every computer in the home.
"That is an intrusion on your privacy, but as a condition for your son, you will have to agree to that," Davis told the elder Hassan, who readily agreed to it.
Much of Hassan's case remains shrouded in secrecy. Of the 45 entries in his case's public court docket, 18 documents remain under seal. The most recent secret filing was Aug. 19.
Hassan initially was charged with providing material support - "namely personnel including himself" - to al-Shabaab, a group that is part of a coalition to wrest control of parts of Somalia from the country's U.N.-backed Transitional Federal Government.
The charges allege he was involved with the group from November 2007 to August 2008 and was among the first group of Somali men from the Twin Cities to travel to Somalia. He was among seven men who allegedly received Mohamed's help with traveling.
On Dec. 6, 2007, he was one of two men who boarded Northwest Flight 56 from the Twin Cities to Amsterdam with a final destination of Somalia. Once there, Hassan stayed at an al-Shabaab training camp.
He later returned to the U.S.
Six months after he was charged with aiding terrorists, federal officials added a third charge, accusing him of lying to FBI agents. He pleaded guilty to that charge, too.
Some of Hassan's efforts on behalf of al-Shabaab occurred before the U.S. State Department declared the group a foreign terrorist organization, making it illegal to provide support to it. The government made the declaration after saying it was linked to the terrorist group al-Qaida.
Somalia erupted in civil war in 1988, and a 1991 coup threw things into further disarray. A coalition of groups including al-Shabaab rose to oppose the transitional government and took control of areas of the country, including the capital of Mogadishu in June 2006.
When Somalia's government brought in soldiers from neighboring Ethiopia to regain control, al-Shabaab (which means "the youth" in Arabic) issued a call for Somalis worldwide to return to their homeland to fight the foreign troops.
That recruiting call stretched to the Twin Cities, home to the largest population of Somalis outside Somalia. FBI officials here said they can't cite a precise number, but they believe that 20 or so local men traveled abroad to fight for al-Shabaab.
Of those charged, six have entered guilty pleas. One has been sentenced; he received three months for lying to the FBI.
Four await trial. Eight are considered fugitives, and two of those charged died while in Somalia as fugitives.
Two of those awaiting trial are Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, two Rochester women accused of raising money for al-Shabaab. Last week, prosecutors filed a notice naming some people and organizations the women allegedly sent money to.
The notice also claims Ali sent $7,000 to 20 men in June and July of 2007 and that she helped coordinate and fund the travel of seven men to Somalia in September 2008.
Not all the money she allegedly raised went to al-Shabaab. The notice claims she also sent money to other insurgent groups in Somalia, including Hizbul Islam and the Ras Kambooni Brigades.
She also allegedly sent money to Kenya "for the transport and medical treatment of wounded al-Shabaab fighters" from Somalia to Nairobi, Kenya.
David Hanners can be reached at 612-338-6516.
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