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| American woman detained by SDF charged with supporting ISIS in Syria | ||
| 2018-08-24 | ||
[Rudaw] An American woman who claimed her late husband tricked her into going to Syria has been tossed in the slammerDrop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on two counts of supporting ISIS. On Thursday, the US Department of Justice announced charges against Samantha Marie Elhassani of "conspiring to provide material support to [ISIS]" and "aiding and abetting individuals in providing material support" to the group. "Under both charges she is alleged to have procured tactical gear and provided funds," stated the justice department, which added the charges stemmed from actions in the Fall of 2014 through the Summer of 2015. "The charges against Ms. Elhassani illustrate that actions of providing support to ISIS have serious consequences, and should serve as a reminder to American citizens that providing assistance to terrorist organizations or individuals aligned with terrorist entities will not be tolerated," stated Special Agent in Charge Grant Mendenhall of the FBI’s Indianapolis Division. In July 2018, Elhassani was transferred from the custody Syrian Democratic Forces to US law enforcement. The SDF is the mostly Kurdish partnered ground force of the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition in the country. The 32-year-old Elhassani, also known as Samantha Sally
She told CNN in an interview in April in SDF custody that her late husband, Mousssa Elhassani, told her she was going to live a cheaper life in Morocco. He then forced her to choose between abandoning her daughter to ISIS to save her son or follow her husband to ISIS-held areas. "I will do anything to get my kids back where they belong," Elhassani said. "If I have to spend 15 years in prison, it's better than anything here." She told CNN they entered Syria through ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire.... in 2015. Her son, age 7 at the time, was used in ISIS propaganda videos. "Maybe I would never have seen my daughter again ever, and how can I live the rest of my life like that," she told CNN that reports Moussa Elhassani died in an air strike in 2017. "I was like a prisoner," claimed Elhassani, who said she spent $10,000 "to help" a teenage Yezidi girl named "Soad." The Yezidi girl was repeatedly raped by her husband, who then bought another "slave" for $7,500 named "Bedrine," who was younger than Soad. The wife told CNN she was protecting the girls. She will face court proceedings in the United States. "My office is committed to aggressively pursuing and prosecuting those who support designated terrorist organizations such as ISIS," US Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana Thomas L. Kirsch II said. "This indictment is an example of that commitment."
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| Posted by:trailing wife |