2 Danish Palestinian charity members acquitted of financing terror
Chairman of the Al-Aqsa Foundation in Denmark and his deputy charged of transferring funds to Hamas-affiliated body.
By The Associated PressA Danish court on Tuesday acquitted two members of the country's branch of a Palestinian foundation of charges of financing terror.
Rachid Issa, chairman of the Al Aqsa Foundation in Denmark, and his deputy, Ahmad Suleiman, were charged in December 2005 with having violated a part of the anti-terror law that prohibits economic support for terror groups.
In 2002, the organization transferred nearly 500,000 kroner, about $61,000 at the time, to the Islamic Charitable Society and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, which Danish prosecutors said was part of Hamas.
The European Union, the United States and Israel consider Hamas a terrorist organization.
But the Copenhagen City Court ruled there was no evidence that the money ended up in Hamas' hands.
Issa and Suleiman were the first to be charged under Denmark's anti-terror laws after they were tightened following the September 11 attacks. The two men had pleaded innocent.
It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors would appeal the ruling.
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
...that a conviction would have caused similar results as the Mohammed-caricatures had caused....
Once again we see the Danish court system rely upon testimony from extremist islamist over documents supplied from a friendly democratic state. Al Aqsa are just like Sinn Fein used to, in Northern Ireland, supplying money to a teorist group. It might not go directly to fund terror attacks, that are aimed at killing innocent people. But these terror groups depend upon the support from their other activites to supply them with a steady flow of brain dead people, to carry out suicide bombings. These people who supply money to the Hamas organization, are in my mind as responsible as the suicide bomber - and should be punished accordingly.