March 19, 2010 at 08:27 AM in Diplomacy, International Law / Law of War / Human Rights, Terrorist Finance | Permalink
March 19, 2010 at 08:26 AM in Executive Branch, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink
March 04, 2010 at 07:48 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorist Finance | Permalink
February 23, 2010 at 01:21 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorism, Constitutional Law, Terrorist Finance | Permalink
February 19, 2010 at 01:58 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance, Latin America, Middle East | Permalink
February 18, 2010 at 06:45 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorism, Constitutional Law, Terrorist Finance | Permalink
February 18, 2010 at 06:41 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Military, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance | Permalink
February 18, 2010 at 06:38 AM in Diplomacy, Terrorist Finance, Africa | Permalink
January 29, 2010 at 07:31 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance | Permalink
January 27, 2010 at 07:23 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorist Finance, Europe | Permalink
December 31, 2009 at 08:13 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance, Africa | Permalink
December 18, 2009 at 12:56 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance, Africa | Permalink
December 17, 2009 at 08:07 AM in Executive Branch, Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink
11/25/09: CNN reports that seven suspects arrested in connection with last year's attacks on the Indian financial capital of Mumbai were charged in connection with the siege Wednesday. Alyas Saddiqi, the defense attorney representing suspect Jameel Ahmed, said the defendants were charged with acts of terrorism, money laundering, supplying funds for terrorism, and providing tools for terrorism. Saddiqi said all the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. The suspects face the death penalty if convicted of committing an act of terrorism.
November 25, 2009 at 12:23 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance, Afghanistan / Pakistan, Asia | Permalink
November 25, 2009 at 08:31 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorism, Constitutional Law, Terrorist Finance | Permalink
11/24/09: The Los Angeles Times reports that Federal authorities unsealed criminal charges Monday against eight suspects alleged to be part of a US recruiting network that sent young men to fight in Somalia -- one of the largest militant operations uncovered in this country since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The court documents disclosed how some older members of the Somali American community in Minneapolis are believed to have lured younger ones to fight in Somalia -- some as suicide bombers -- with an Al Qaeda-affiliated group known as Al Shabab, or "The Youth." The charges include providing financial support to fighters who traveled to Somalia, attending Al Shabab training camps and fighting with the group against the US-backed transitional government there, as well as against Ethiopian government forces and African Union troops.
Continue reading "US youths recruited to fight in Somali militia, authorities say" »
November 24, 2009 at 07:46 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Military, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance, Africa | Permalink
November 17, 2009 at 07:38 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorist Finance | Permalink
11/14/09: The Miami Herald reports that the organization that federal investigators say is a front for the Iranian government has spent millions of dollars over the years on philanthropy: buying property for four US mosques, funding religious schools and language classes, and translating books on Islam. The move to seize assets held by the New York-based Alavi Foundation will cripple the charity's work and put the government in the awkward position of potentially shutting down the houses of worship, which occupy buildings and land that Alavi owns.
Continue reading "Treasury, Justice target Iranian regime assets" »
November 14, 2009 at 01:06 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink
10/22/09: CNN reports that enough Afghan opium to supply world demand for two years has effectively gone missing, with the Taliban suspected of stockpiling supplies in a bid to corner the market, the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has revealed.
Continue reading "Taliban suspected of stockpiling 'missing' Afghan opium" »
October 22, 2009 at 07:33 AM in Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance, Afghanistan / Pakistan | Permalink
October 13, 2009 at 07:50 AM in Intelligence, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance | Permalink
10/08/09: The Lift reports that in its first ruling, the new UK Supreme Court agreed that the media should be able to identify one of four men appealing against orders freezing their assets. Mr al-Ghabra, 29, from Forest Gate, East London, who has British citizenship, has been named by the US as a terrorism recruiter and fundraiser and accused of keeping contact with senior al-Qaeda figures in Pakistan.
Continue reading "UK Supreme Court deals with al-Qaeda financier as first case" »
October 08, 2009 at 12:16 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorist Finance, Europe | Permalink
September 09, 2009 at 01:34 PM in International Law / Law of War / Human Rights, Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
September 09, 2009 at 09:31 AM in Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
September 07, 2009 at 02:00 PM in Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
August 21, 2009 at 09:57 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Politics, Constitutional Law, Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
August 19, 2009 at 10:25 AM in Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Homeland Security / Immigration, Intelligence, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
August 18, 2009 at 08:57 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorism, Detainees / Guantanamo, Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
08/08/09: The Washington Post reports that a terrorism-financing case against Sheik Mohammed al-Moayad, a Yemeni cleric, which the US government once claimed as a major victory against al-Qaeda, came to a murky end Friday as a federal judge ordered him to be released and deported, despite his 2005 sentence to 75 years in a maximum-security U.S. prison.
August 08, 2009 at 04:14 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Homeland Security / Immigration, Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
07/28/09: The Miami Herald reports that Salah Osman Ahmed, a Minnesota man accused of traveling to Somalia to fight with Islamic militants plans to plead guilty will plead guilty to one count of providing material support to terrorists. As part of a plea agreement, one count of conspiracy to kill, kidnap, maim and injure and two counts of lying to the FBI will be dropped when Ahmed is sentenced.
Continue reading "Minnesota Somali to plead guilty to terrorism charge" »
July 28, 2009 at 02:19 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance, Africa | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
July 28, 2009 at 10:11 AM in Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Diplomacy, Terrorist Finance, Iraq | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
July 21, 2009 at 05:24 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Executive Branch, Terrorism, Diplomacy, Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
July 20, 2009 at 03:23 PM in Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Military, Terrorism, Diplomacy, International Law / Law of War / Human Rights, Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
07/14/09: The New York Times reports that Aleem Nasir, a 47-year-old German-Pakistani man, was sentenced Monday to eight years in prison for actively supporting Al Qaeda, a state court in the city of Koblenz said.
July 14, 2009 at 10:47 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorist Finance, Afghanistan / Pakistan, Europe | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
07/07/09: SCOTUSblog reports that federal prosecutions since 2001 have pursued “material support” cases against 120 individuals or organizaions (with convictions in about half of the cases). But the Ninth Circuit Court has struck down several parts of the law, finding them too vague to satisfy the Constitution, and finding that they threaten free speech rights of those who would support non-violent activities of the designated organizations.
July 07, 2009 at 09:08 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Terrorism, Constitutional Law, Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
07/02/09: The Long War Journal reports that Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders Arif Qasmani, Mohammed Yahya Mujahid, and Nasir Javaid, and al Qaeda operative Fazeel-A-Tul Shaykh Abu Mohammed Ameen Al Peshawari have been designated as terrorists under Executive Order 13224. The designation permits the US to freeze their assets, prevents them from using financial institutions, and allows for prosecution for their terrorist activities.
July 02, 2009 at 02:29 PM in Terrorism, Diplomacy, Terrorist Finance, Afghanistan / Pakistan | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
07/02/09: The Miami Herald reports that Tareq Mousa al Ghazi who was convicted in US District Court in New York in March of conspiracy to murder U.S. officers, conspiracy to acquire and export anti-aircraft missiles and conspiracy to support a terrorist group, was sentenced to 25 years in prison by Federal Judge Jed Rakoff.
Continue reading "Arms dealer gets 25 years in NYC terror case" »
July 02, 2009 at 08:45 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Military, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
06/16/09: The Miami Herald reports that an American Civil Liberties Union report issued Tuesday said many people who want to comply with their faith's tenet of charitable giving have stopped doing that out of worry they could be swept up in a terrorism financing investigation.
June 16, 2009 at 01:45 PM in Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorism, Surveillance / Privacy, Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
06/16/09: The ACLU is sponsoring a teleconference at 11:00 to address the findings of a new
report, "Blocking Faith, Freezing Charity." The ACLU conducted 120
interviews with Muslim community leaders and donors in several states, and the
result is the first comprehensive report that documents the serious effects of
Bush administration terrorism finance laws on Muslim communities. Check the calendar for details.
June 16, 2009 at 08:12 AM in Constitutional Law, Surveillance / Privacy, Terrorist Finance, Events | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
06/10/09: The New York Times reports that four people with connections to Sri Lanka pleaded guilty in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday to conspiring to provide support to the Tamil Tigers, the separatist rebels whom Sri Lankan troops defeated last month after more than a quarter-century of fighting for a homeland. The defendants are Karunakaran Kandasamy, Pratheepan Thavaraja, Murugesu Vinayagamoorthy, and Vijayshanthar Patpanathan.
June 10, 2009 at 08:42 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorism, Terrorist Finance, Asia | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
05/31/09: The New York Times reports that the Obama administration is supporting efforts by the Saudi royal family to defeat a long-running lawsuit seeking to hold it liable for the 9/11 attacks. The DOJ, in a brief filed Friday in the Supreme Court, said it did not believe the Saudis could be sued in American court over accusations brought by 9/11 victims' families that the royal family had helped finance Al Qaeda. The DOJ said it saw no need for the court to review lower court rulings that found in the Saudis’ favor in throwing out the lawsuit. The case is Federal Insurance Co. v. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
May 31, 2009 at 10:52 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Executive Branch, Politics, Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
05/27/09: The Miami Herald reports that a founding member of what was once the nation's largest Muslim charity, the Holy Land Foundation, was sentenced to 65 years in prison Wednesday for funneling millions of dollars to the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Abu Baker and other charity leaders were convicted in a Texas district court on charges ranging from supporting a terrorist organization to money laundering and tax fraud.
Continue reading "Holy Land Foundation member gets 65 years in prison for funding Hamas" »
May 27, 2009 at 02:57 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
"Microfinancing Terrorism: A Study in Al Qaeda Financing Strategy" (in State of Corruption, State of Chaos: The Terror of Political Malfeasance, M. Cox, ed., 2008) by Tolga Koker (Yale University) and Carlos L. Yordan (Drew University). This article explains why individuals support the work of charities that support jihadist operations, even when they may not agree with these organizations' agenda. It first explains why al Qaeda and other jihadist groups use charities to raise most of their funds. It then introduces a behavioral model, arguing that individual Muslims donate monies to Islamist charities that support jihadist causes as a response to social pressures, in an attempt to avoid social seclusion. It concludes with policy implications in the ongoing global struggle against terrorism. HT to National Security Advisors.
"Bank Liability Under the Anti-Terrorism Act: Dispelling the 'Routine Banking Services' Defense in Material Support Cases" by Stephen I. Landman (Catholic University of America - Columbus School of Law). This article evaluates civil liability for financial institutions that provide material support to terrorist organizations, analyzing the development of the ATA and related legislation proscribing material support to terrorist groups and highlighting the evolving statutory construction by looking to the body of case law surrounding lawsuits against the terrorist support network. Using the lawsuit filed on behalf of Daniel Pearl as a case study, this article concludes that a broad interpretation of the statute is not only in line with the legislative intent of the ATA, but is also the only way in which it can be effective in halting terrorist financing.
"The Best Tool for the Job: The U.S. Campaign to Freeze Assets of Proliferators and their Supporters" (Virginia Journal of International Law, 2009) by CarrieLyn Donigan Guymon (Golden Gate University School of Law). This article reviews the legal framework in the United States for freezing the assets of individuals and entities engaged in proliferation-related activities. It argues that the United States and the international community must maintain nonproliferation sanctions because these sanctions protect the integrity of the national and global systems and actors within the jurisdictions imposing them. Regardless of their impact on the target, nonproliferation sanctions must be used to send that strong signal of abhorrence for proliferant behavior.
"EU Law, International Law and Economic Sanctions Against Terrorism: The Judiciary in Distress?" (Fordham International Law Journal, Forthcoming) by P. Takis Tridimas (Queen Mary University of London) and Jose A. Gutierrez-Fons (Queen Mary University of London, School of Law). This article examines the relationship between European Union law, international law, and the protection of fundamental rights in the light of Kadi, Al Barakaat, and other recent case law of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the Court of First Instance (CFI) relating to economic sanctions against individuals.
May 22, 2009 at 11:08 AM in Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
04/15/09: The European Parliament released an overview of European and international terrorist financing legislation which examines the different uses and operations of the laws, their differing and similar stipulations, and the processes by which they were adopted. HT to The Lift.
April 15, 2009 at 08:45 AM in Terrorist Finance, Europe | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
03/13/09: The Jamestown Foundation reports that recent acquittals of members of Muslim Charities in Sweden and Belgium which have been banned from operating in Germany and the Netherlands demonstrates the relative difficulty of securing convictions of terrorism financing suspects in Scandinavian countries. The authors attribute this difference in part to the higher evidentiary threshold of Scandinavian courts as opposed to other European courts in terrorist financing cases.
March 13, 2009 at 02:42 PM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorist Finance, Europe | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
"Enacting Counter Terrorism Financing Laws in the UAE and Bahrain: The Fusion of Global Pressures, Regional Dynamics, and Local Interests" (Mediterranean Programme, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute) Carlos L. Yordan (Drew University). After the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1373, obligating all states to enact new laws that criminalized activities related to terrorism, and making laws against terrorism financing a priority. This paper analyzes the reasons that inform the UAE's and Bahrain's decision to comply with these financial standards. Both are becoming important global financial hubs and their compliance has been used to attract foreign investments. Moreover conformity with these rules, which are similar to the ones found in the USA PATRIOT Act, shows their commitment to Washington's global war on terror, but without having to publicly support America's strategies. HT to National Security Advisors.
November 28, 2008 at 11:58 PM in Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorist Finance, Middle East | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
11/02/2008: The Washington Post reports that the global blacklisting system for financiers of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups is at risk of collapse, undermined by legal challenges and waning political support in many countries, according to counterterrorism officials in Europe and the United States.
November 02, 2008 at 10:05 AM in Terrorism, Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
August 31, 2008 at 02:57 AM in Terrorist Finance | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
07/22/08: CNN has an article on the recent dismissal by a Spanish court of the indictments of two Syrian-born men for alleged terrorist financing.
July 22, 2008 at 06:57 AM in Judiciary / Cases, Law Enforcement / Criminal Law, Terrorist Finance, Europe | Permalink | TrackBack (0)
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Opinion: The European Court of Justice Kadi decision and the future of UN counterterrorism sanctions
October 30, 2009 at 01:30 PM in Terrorism, International Law / Law of War / Human Rights, Terrorist Finance, Commentary / Opinion | Permalink