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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Man Accused Of Aiding Terrorists Is Denied Bail

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - The 9th Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of bail for a designated terrorist charged with providing material support to terrorists by sending his brother two-way radios that were used to make explosives in the Philippines.

Defendant Rahmat Abd Hir, 43, was born in Malaysia and has been living in the United States for the past 20 years. His brother, Zulkifli Abd Hir, is a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and an alleged high-ranking member of Jemaah Islamiyah, an al Qaeda terrorist affiliate operating in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Jemaah Islamiyah is suspected of carrying out the 2002 bombing of a nightclub in Bali that killed more than 200 people.

Although Rahmet knew about his brother's terrorist activities, he sent Zulkifli more than $10,000 and supplies ranging from candy and underwear to gun accessories, knives and hand-held two-way radios. The government claims that some of the radios were used to make improvised explosive devices that were detonated in the Philippines, killing five people and injuring 29.

Abd Hir is charged with two counts of conspiring to provide and providing material support to terrorists, 13 counts of contributing goods and services to a specially designated global terrorist, and one count of making a material false statement. If convicted, he faces up to 298 years in prison.

The court unanimously ruled that the defendant's law-abiding past and local community ties do not outweigh the "nature and gravity of the danger that would be posed by his release."

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