– I had to have a job to support my children. At first I went around selling iced coffee, but then I found a more lucrative job. I got in touch with someone who knew how to get money into the camp. This is how the IS accused woman described the start of the banking system she ran from the Al Hol prison camp in Syria. The sister has explained that she worked both to get money into the camp for profit and to receive and distribute donations. – The banking system I had and the money I got donated had nothing to do with IS, said the woman about this business. PROFIT: – My contact said that I can work on bringing in money, and make a profit on it. I got many customers and contacts, said the woman in her free explanation. Photo: Ane Hem / NTB This week, PST presented evidence from the phone the oldest defendant used in the camp. The review shows that she has had extensive communication related to money. – Are there findings that indicate financial activity and management on the phone? To the highest degree. It’s a lot, said police officer in PST, Martin Bøyum. One of the points in the indictment against the sister is that she interacted with IS-affiliated persons regarding financial transactions. She denies criminal guilt for this as well. This is how the sister’s bank worked There was an official banking system in the camp, said the sister. But since she was hiding, she couldn’t use this system. This was also the case for many others. How does money get into the camp? Money can enter the camp via formal channels approved by the camp management. This works so that the management approves some hawalas inside the camp. There is also an informal and non-approved system. The approved system can also be used for non-approved activity. If someone gets money from the approved hawala system, that person can take a share of the money and then move the money to someone else At the same time, some of the approved hawala owners can also engage in informal and unauthorized transfers The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has described it like this: – The administration only allowed each inmate to receive 200 dollars a month, but the exchange offices and some of the guards in the camp allowed larger amounts to enter the camp against bribes. (Source: Cash camps, Financing detainee activities in Al Hol and Roj Camps, Audrey Alexander) In court, examples were presented that showed how the sister’s unofficial banking system worked. In March 2021, the defendant wrote that she wanted money sent from the rebel-controlled area of Idlib in Syria to the Roj detention camp. “I want hawala from Idlib to Roj. But it must be like it’s from Turkey. OK?”, wrote the sister of a man referred to as a haji. Two days later the money arrived at the camp. The man referred to as Haji was important in the money system of the accused. The defendant explained that she had an account in his bank. If someone wanted to send money to a woman in the camp, Haji made up a fictitious name which he gave to his sister. The name was then communicated to those who wanted to send money. When Haji received money marked with the fictitious name, the defendant was notified. – Then I collect the money from another contact inside the camp and deliver it to her, explained the defendant. In one of the chats, the sister is asked how she managed to get money into the prison camp. “We have a money transfer office, thank God, we also smuggle money in illegally,” replied the defendant. Sent bitcoin address For cryptocurrency transfers, the sister had a different system. She had contact with a man called Ibrahim in Idlib province. He also engaged in hawala. – Haji was for sending money in. When it came to other transactions, like crypto, it went through Ibrahim. The sister was asked if cryptocurrency was part of her banking system. – If you wanted it transferred in crypto, then you got crypto, replied the defendant. FENCED: The Al Hol internment camp is surrounded by fences. The defendant or other IS suspect women were not allowed to leave the camp. Nevertheless, large amounts of money flow in and out of Al Hol. Photo: DELIL SOULEIMAN / AFP At the end of April 2021, the sister chatted with a contact called “Meine Liebe”. The person asked for a bitcoin address to send money to. “Try this one,” replied the defendant. She then provided an address. news has carried out investigations into the address and sees that it was first in use in April 2021. Since it was created, almost two whole bitcoins have gone in, which have then gone out again. Today, two bitcoins are worth almost NOK 2 million. – All kinds of people wanted to donate The sister has also explained that she received many donations. The money was intended as support for the women and children in the detention camp, said the defendant. 100 DOLLARS PER WOMAN: A photo found on the eldest sister’s phone shows 100-dollar bills scattered across a carpet. In court, she explained that the money was distributed to those who needed it most. Photo: PST The sister herself is said to have received such a donation from terrorist accused Arfan Bhatti. – There were all kinds of people from all over the world who wanted to donate money. Because I had a large network, I could help many people, said the sister in her free explanation. This money was referred to as sadaqah, voluntary charity. In April 2021, the sister sent a number of photos to a contact. The images show a woman with black gloves holding money in one hand and a note in the other. “Donations received in Al Hol” is written on the note. BANKNOTES: This photo was also found on the phone of the eldest sister. Sadaqah means charity. Photo: PST The contact then asks if the defendant can send a list of “needy and injured sisters”. “There are so many. I just have to confirm that they are in need,” replied the defendant. In the Oslo district court, the defendant said that she spent a lot of time finding those who had the least money. Sometimes she herself decided who would get it. – Sometimes I got a sum and they said: You make the decision yourself. As you see fit. Would not explain himself in questioning Researcher Truls Tønnessen was an expert witness in the district court this week. He refers to Idlib as a center for distributing money to the camps. – Many of the campaigns to free women from the camps and transfer money have been based in Idlib, Tønessen told the court. Idlib is controlled by rebel groups, but is also referred to as a safe haven for IS. In her free explanation, the sister admitted that people with affiliations to the terrorist group IS were also part of her large network of contacts. – I only had contact with them because it was in my interest. I had no contact with them to support IS, the defendant explained. Prosecutor Marit Formo was concerned that the defendant would not explain the transactions when she was confronted about it in questioning. PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE: Police prosecutor in PST Kathrine Tonstad (left), state prosecutor Anne Karoline Bakken Staff (centre) and state prosecutor Marit Formo (left) lead the case against the sisters from Bærum. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB – Why wouldn’t you say that in questioning if this was a perfectly good job?, asked Formo. The sister explained that she was not feeling well. – I feel it is not understood how seriously depressed I was during that interrogation, replied the defendant. Published 16.11.2024, at 15.42
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– A more lucrative job – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
