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Somali sex trafficking trial faces series of delays | |||||||||
2012-04-17 | |||||||||
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal trial involving more than a dozen defendants accused in a sex trafficking ring run by Somali gangs is being complicated by cultural issues within the Somali refugee communities in Tennessee and Minnesota.
Out of the 30 individuals listed in the indictment, only 14 are going to trial this month in Nashville on charges of conspiracy to commit sexual trafficking of children by force, fraud or coercion and charges related to the sexual trafficking. Many of the individuals have remained in federal custody since their arrests in 2010. Assistant U.S. Attorney Van Vincent declined to say why the government dropped some of the counts related to one of the victims shortly before the trial was scheduled to start. However, another victim, who is identified only as Jane Doe (hash)2, is expected to testify in the trial that is expected to take at least two months. Smith has been working with Jane Doe (hash)2 in the case and said testifying against other Somalis will be very difficult for the victim, but she wants to have her voice heard. "In the case of Jane Doe (hash)2, she, as a minor, would typically be in a closed court, but she wants to have her story known and she wants to speak in public," Smith said. Many, but not all the defendants, are described as refugees who came to the United States as young children. Police have relied on immigration paperwork to determine their ages, but defense attorneys have argued in court that information in those documents are routinely incorrect due to cultural and language issues.
Courts in Minnesota, the state with the largest Somali population in the U.S., have seen similar issues in cases where defendants or victims are Somali. There are no birth records in Somalia, and no government to keep such records even if they did exist. Meanwhile, birthdays aren't as significant to the Somali culture as they are to Americans, and aren't routinely celebrated. Hashi Shafi, a Somali community leader in Minneapolis and head of Somali Action Alliance, said many Somalis know the year in which they were born, but not the month or date. Birthdates were assigned to many when they went to refugee camps and needed an exact date of birth so they could go to another country.
Dan Scott, a former federal defender in Minnesota who has handled complex terrorism cases, said witnesses often worry about the ramifications of testifying, especially in immigrant communities that. "When you are dealing with an insular community, especially whose native language is not English, people are going to worry about the ramifications of testifying in court against community members," Scott said. "The Somali community is a very insular community in Minnesota — everybody knows everybody. "It shouldn't be any surprise that this is happening in a case like this," Scott said. | |||||||||
Posted by:Steve White |
#1 ...as defense attorneys argued that the defendants, many of whom are refugees from Somalia, were juveniles at the time the alleged crimes occurred. Undoubtedly the same class of attorneys who argue that curfew laws should be struck down because juvies should have adult rights. Do adult crimes, do adult time. |
Posted by: Procopius2k 2012-04-17 09:45 |