The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned
a lower court’s decision that awarded damages to two lawyers whose
constitutionally protected conversations with clients were wiretapped by
the government.
The lawyers represented the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, which in the early 2000s was designated a terrorist financier by the the U.S. government and the U.N. for providing monetary and logistical support “to the al-Qaida network and other terrorist organizations.”
The charity — based in Saudi Arabia, and later dissolved by the Saudi government in 2004 — turned out to be a major player in the U.S. government’s so-called “War on Terror.”
In 2008 the Treasury Department announced that it had designated the entire organization as having aided the al-Qaida terrorist network, and froze assets held “by any office of the AHF organization under U.S. jurisdiction.” U.S. citizens were prohibited by the Treasury Department from engaging in any transactions with AHF.
American officials told The Associated Press in 2009, however, that only a small percentage of funds raised by the charity were diverted to al-Qaida, and that only a few people within the organization knew that funds were being sent to finance terrorists. They also conceded, however, that al-Haramain and similar charities were major terrorist funding sources and that closed charities were operating overseas under new names with new bank accounts.
In September 2011, the former head of the U.S. branch was sentenced to 33 years in prison for lying about efforts to covertly send $130,000 from the United States to religious extremists in Chenchnya.
The AHF filed charges against the NSA in February 2006, alleging that the NSA had illegally wiretapped conversations between AHF and its lawyers. AHF’s lawyers — two Americans — originally won that case, and were awarded $200,000 each and $2.5 million in legal fees.
The lawyers represented the al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, which in the early 2000s was designated a terrorist financier by the the U.S. government and the U.N. for providing monetary and logistical support “to the al-Qaida network and other terrorist organizations.”
The charity — based in Saudi Arabia, and later dissolved by the Saudi government in 2004 — turned out to be a major player in the U.S. government’s so-called “War on Terror.”
In 2008 the Treasury Department announced that it had designated the entire organization as having aided the al-Qaida terrorist network, and froze assets held “by any office of the AHF organization under U.S. jurisdiction.” U.S. citizens were prohibited by the Treasury Department from engaging in any transactions with AHF.
American officials told The Associated Press in 2009, however, that only a small percentage of funds raised by the charity were diverted to al-Qaida, and that only a few people within the organization knew that funds were being sent to finance terrorists. They also conceded, however, that al-Haramain and similar charities were major terrorist funding sources and that closed charities were operating overseas under new names with new bank accounts.
In September 2011, the former head of the U.S. branch was sentenced to 33 years in prison for lying about efforts to covertly send $130,000 from the United States to religious extremists in Chenchnya.
The AHF filed charges against the NSA in February 2006, alleging that the NSA had illegally wiretapped conversations between AHF and its lawyers. AHF’s lawyers — two Americans — originally won that case, and were awarded $200,000 each and $2.5 million in legal fees.
No comments:
Post a Comment