Sentenced to 65 years in prison for supporting HAMAS

Two founders of a Muslim charity organisation were convicted Wednesday in the United States to 65 years in prison each for having illegally provided (12.4 million dollars to Hamas).

• Chourki Abou Baker, 50, and Ghassan Elachi, 55, are two of the leaders of the Foundation “The Holy Land,” based in Dallas, who were convicted six months ago of conspiring to support a (foreign a terrorist organization, money laundering and tax evasion).
   
  Three other officials were sentenced to 15 - 20 years in prison, reports the Dallas Morning News.
   
  The foundation was one of the largest Muslim charities in the United States before its closure in the wake of 11 September 2001. It has always defended the legitimate assistance to Palestinian refugees.
   
   “You have not told the whole story. The Palestinians were in a desperate situation but that does not justify your support for Hamas,” said the judge, quoted by the newspaper.
   
  The sentence, pronounced Wednesday, should serve “as a warning to anyone who provides assistance to terrorists under the guise of humanitarian aid,” said the Attorney General for National Security, David Kris, in a statement.
   
  Part of the American Muslim community has presented the case as an illustration of an unfair policy of the United States against Muslims since the attacks of 11 September and the criminalization of charitable organizations.
   
  The United States has classified Hamas as a terrorist organization in 1995.
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• Ennaharonline/ M. O.
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