SCOTUS to consider fate of jailed Muslim charity leaders

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 20:29:00 +0000

On Friday the U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether to hear the case of the Holy Land Five -- a group of Muslim charity leaders who face jail sentences of up to 65 years. On Thursday afternoon, activists, attorneys and family members of the prisoners have planned to rally in New York in advance of the SCOTUS conference.

The Holy Land Foundation (HLF) was the largest Muslim charity in the United States until three months after 9/11, when the Bush administration shut it down following reports that the group had donated a portion of their foundation funds to schools and hospitals in Gaza through a "Zakat" (charity-giving) Committee that allegedly had connections to Hamas. After subsequent raids on the charity leaders' homes and offices, arrests, and two trials (the first in 2007 ending in a hung jury), the Holy Land Five were convicted of conspiracy under the Material Support to Terrorists statute and received sentences ranging from 15 to 65 years in federal prison.

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SCOTUS to consider fate of jailed Muslim charity leaders