Holy Land verdict reached, stays sealed
A federal jury in Dallas has reached a verdict ending 19 days of deliberations in the high-stakes terrorism financing trial of a now-defunct Islamic charity. However, the decision will remain sealed until court resumes on Monday because the judge was out of town.
A federal magistrate who presided over the jury’s return said he was not authorized to release the verdict in the absence of U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish. “Nobody, including myself, will even glance at it,” Magistrate Paul Stickney told the courtroom Thursday.
The Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development and five of its former officials are accused of illegally funneling $12.4 million to the Palestinian group Hamas, through overseas charities. Federal authorities allege that the money helped support suicide attacks and other activities by Hamas, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization since 1995.
The defendants, all but one of whom is a U.S. citizen, have denied the charges. They contend that Holy Land, once the nation’s largest Islamic charity, provided medical care and charitable work around the world.
The case has been one of the most important terrorism trials pursued by the Bush administration. Even before the criminal indictment was unsealed in 2004, the president used a Rose Garden news conference to personally announce executive action to close the charity.
Central to the government’s criminal case are allegations that the Holy Land Foundation and its leaders provided material support for terrorism, charges that carry the possibility of life sentences. Additional charges alleging tax violations were also considered by the Dallas jury.
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Special correspondent Sarah Junek in Dallas contributed to this report.
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