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states, “Court documents show no connection between the alleged crimes
and the United States.”
Two of the men, Mohamed Yusuf and Ali Yasin Ahmed, lived in
Sweden for a time. Madhi Hashi was born in Somalia and grew up in
England. The British newspaper, The Independent reported on Dec. 23 that
when Hashi lived in London, he was one of a group of young people who
said they were pressured by the UK intelligence agency, MI5, to become
informants. After his return to Somalia, Hashi’s UK citizenship was
revoked.
The Independent says of Hashi, “His family had no idea where he
was for five months until he appeared in a New York court on Friday
accused of terrorism. Last night, his British lawyer, Saghir Hussain, said:
‘This has all the hallmarks of rendition. It appears the withdrawal of
citizenship and the kidnapping by the Americans may have been coordinated.’”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office claims, “In early August 2012, the
defendants were apprehended in Africa by local authorities while on their
way to Yemen.” On Oct. 18, 2012, a grand jury in the Eastern District of
New York returned a sealed indictment against the defendants. On Nov.
14, 2012, the Federal Bureau of Investigation took custody of the
defendants and brought them to the Eastern District of New York.”
The Independent quotes Hashi’s father, Mohamed, “’We are not some
slaves who can be passed around from one owner to another,’ he said.
‘Why was our son sent to the U.S.? He has been a British citizen for 15
years but then his citizenship was taken away suddenly and now we find
out that he's in New York? Our family had to find out this news from
public news sources as no one has contacted us until now. We are very
worried about his condition as we have no information. The U.S. have not
given our son any rights – we don't know where he's being held, how to
contact him or how he's being treated. It is shocking that something like
this can be done to someone based on accusations and suspicion only.’”
Among those who announced the charges against the three men Dec.
21 was Raymond Kelly, the Commissioner of New York City Police