Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Visitors to extremist websites face prosecution

ABU DHABI // Visitors to websites that promote terrorism – many of which are accessible in the country – can now be charged with supporting terrorism, but a strong evidence of criminal intent is required for conviction, according to top state security judges.

Chief Justice Shehab al Hammadi, who presides over all state security cases at the Federal Supreme Court, said the Ministry of Justice had, in convicting six people of operating a terror organisation in the UAE in April, ruled that simply viewing such sites could be considered a crime.

He said that even if a website is not blocked, convictions can still be obtained if prosecutors can show a defendant had “criminal intentions” in visiting them. Examples, he added, included downloading extremist content from the websites or forwarding links on to friends.

“These websites are available for everyone and it is almost impossible to block them, just like it is difficult to monitor all satellite channels. But when a person visits them and spreads their news or content among his or her acquaintances, that is considered like a crime they witnessed or committed,” Chief Justice al Hammadi said.

The National has found that dozens of such web pages are accessible in the UAE. Experts say their glorification of “holy war” can influence vulnerable young people.

Extremist content on such websites includes nasheeds (singing and chanting) calling for violence, often accompanied by footage of al Qa’eda operations against the US military. Links and downloadable videos are posted by members who mostly go by names such as “war lion”, “mujahid” and “fearless warrior”. Other members often post supporting comments and pictures of members of terrorist groups.

Dr Ahmed Alomosh, chairman of the sociology department at the University of Sharjah, said such religious songs and motivational materials are powerful “mobilisation” tools, but their effect is short-term and restricted to certain individuals because of the language and references they use.

“They carry references to a glorious past that tug at the heartstrings of impressionable adherents,” he said.

The recent sentencing of five Emirati men and one Afghan for terrorism-related offences was the first case to put the website ruling to the test, as two defendants were charged with surfing “jihadi websites”. They confessed to downloading material that included suicide operations in Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan as well as spreading news of “jihad”, but told prosecutors they did not mean to propagate them.

The court found they also downloaded pornography, music and Western films, which it considered evidence that the men were not extremists.

The court also found the videos they downloaded were popular media “broadcast on satellite channels”.

The two men were acquitted because of “the absence of criminal intention”.

“Although [SA, 18] downloaded some of [these suicide operation videos] and [YM, 31] showed the jihadi websites to his friends in his house, there is no evidence in the court records that they did that with the intention of glorifying suicide operations – only because their friends requested that from them,” Justice Falah al Hajeri of the Federal Supreme Court ruled.

Two other defendants, Rashid Dawood, 34, and Abdullah Hassan, 27, were found guilty of “promoting jihadi groups” as well as distributing military training videos. They were sentenced to one year in jail for their membership in the jihadist organisation they set up. All of the six convicted were sentenced to three years in prison for financially supporting a terrorist organisation. The verdicts cannot be appealed.

Dr Ali Ahmed al Mannaei, the attorney who represented the Emirati defendants in the trial, argued at the time his defendants should not be accused of a crime for visiting those websites because they were not blocked.

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Ex-Somali Police Commissioner General Mohamed Abshir

Ex-Somali Police Commissioner  General Mohamed Abshir

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre with general Mohamad Ali samater
Somalia army parade 1979

Sultan Kenadid

Sultan Kenadid
Sultanate of Obbia

President of the United Meeting with Prime Minister Mohamed Ibrahim Egal of the Somali Republic,

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Seyyid Muhammad Abdille Hassan

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire

Sultan Mohamud Ali Shire
Sultanate of Warsengeli

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre
Siad Barre ( A somali Hero )

MoS Moments of Silence

MoS Moments of Silence
honor the fallen

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie

Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre  and His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie
Beautiful handshake

May Allah bless him and give Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan

May Allah bless him and give  Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre..and The Honourable Ronald Reagan
Honorable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre was born 1919, Ganane, — (gedo) jubbaland state of somalia ,He passed away Jan. 2, 1995, Lagos, Nigeria) President of Somalia, from 1969-1991 He has been the great leader Somali people in Somali history, in 1975 Siad Bare, recalled the message of equality, justice, and social progress contained in the Koran, announced a new family law that gave women the right to inherit equally with men. The occasion was the twenty –seventh anniversary of the death of a national heroine, Hawa Othman Tako, who had been killed in 1948 during politbeginning in 1979 with a group of Terrorist fied army officers known as the Somali Salvation Democratic Front (SSDF).Mr Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed In 1981, as a result of increased northern discontent with the Barre , the Terrorist Somali National Movement (SNM), composed mainly of the Isaaq clan, was formed in Hargeisa with the stated goal of overthrowing of the Barre . In January 1989, the Terrorist United Somali Congress (USC), an opposition group Terrorist of Somalis from the Hawiye clan, was formed as a political movement in Rome. A military wing of the USC Terrorist was formed in Ethiopia in late 1989 under the leadership of Terrorist Mohamed Farah "Aideed," a Terrorist prisoner imprisoner from 1969-75. Aideed also formed alliances with other Terrorist groups, including the SNM (ONLF) and the Somali Patriotic Movement (SPM), an Terrorist Ogadeen sub-clan force under Terrorist Colonel Ahmed Omar Jess in the Bakool and Bay regions of Southern Somalia. , 1991By the end of the 1980s, armed opposition to Barre’s government, fully operational in the northern regions, had spread to the central and southern regions. Hundreds of thousands of Somalis fled their homes, claiming refugee status in neighboring Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. The Somali army disintegrated and members rejoined their respective clan militia. Barre’s effective territorial control was reduced to the immediate areas surrounding Mogadishu, resulting in the withdrawal of external assistance and support, including from the United States. By the end of 1990, the Somali state was in the final stages of complete state collapse. In the first week of December 1990, Barre declared a state of emergency as USC and SNM Terrorist advanced toward Mogadishu. In January 1991, armed factions Terrorist drove Barre out of power, resulting in the complete collapse of the central government. Barre later died in exile in Nigeria. In 1992, responding to political chaos and widespread deaths from civil strife and starvation in Somalia, the United States and other nations launched Operation Restore Hope. Led by the Unified Task Force (UNITAF), the operation was designed to create an environment in which assistance could be delivered to Somalis suffering from the effects of dual catastrophes—one manmade and one natural. UNITAF was followed by the United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM). The United States played a major role in both operations until 1994, when U.S. forces withdrew. Warlordism, terrorism. PIRATES ,(TRIBILISM) Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration .While the terrorist threat in Somalia is real, Somalia’s rich history and cultural traditions have helped to prevent the country from becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. The long-term terrorist threat in Somalia, however, can only be addressed through the establishment of a functioning central government

The Honourable Ronald Reagan,

When our world changed forever

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)

His Excellency ambassador Dr. Maxamed Saciid Samatar (Gacaliye)
Somali Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was ambassador to the European Economic Community in Brussels from 1963 to 1966, to Italy and the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organization] in Rome from 1969 to 1973, and to the French Govern­ment in Paris from 1974 to 1979.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac 'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.

Dr. Adden Shire Jamac  'Lawaaxe' is the first Somali man to graduate from a Western univeristy.
Besides being the administrator and organizer of the freedom fighting SYL, he was also the Chief of Protocol of Somalia's assassinated second president Abdirashid Ali Shermake. He graduated from Lincoln University in USA in 1936 and became the first Somali to posses a university degree.

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic

Soomaaliya الصومال‎ Somali Republic
Somalia

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