One of the unindicted co-conspirators in the successful Hamas-support prosecution of a Texas charity has a closed hearing with an appellate court Monday, reports Politico's Josh Gerstein.
The North American Islamic Trust (NAIT) is listed with its affiliate, the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), as co-conspirators who "are and/or were members of the US Muslim Brotherhood."
Evidence in the case against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development showed that the Brotherhood, an Egyptian-movement that seeks to spread Islamic law globally, created an American committee to support Hamas politically and financially. NAIT accounts were used to handle money for HLF, the fundraising arm of the Brotherhood's "Palestine Committee."
In a brief, prosecutors said the evidence showed:
"From that ISNA/NAIT account, the HLF sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to HAM AS leader Mousa Abu Marzook; Nadia Elashi (defendant Ghassan Elashi's cousin and Marzook's wife), Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's Islamic Center of Gaza, the Islamic University, and a number of other individuals associated with HAMAS."
The original 2007 prosecution ended in a mistrial when jurors deadlocked on most counts. A 2008 retrial resulted in convictions on all remaining counts.
The hearing before the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, and all the briefs surrounding it, have been sealed from public view, Gerstein reports, even though it appears neither NAIT nor the government requested that. Unindicted co-conspirator lists rarely are filed openly and, though the presiding Texas judge refused to strike ISNA and others from the list, it is believed the court was unhappy with the public disclosure.