US accuses six Bosnians of helping ISIL via Turkey

St. Louis - Associated Press

Volunteers from the Yazidi sect who have joined the Kurdish peshmerga forces to fight against militants of ISIL, take part in a training on the outskirts of the town of Sinjar, Iraq, Feb. 3, 2015. REUTERS/Ari Jalal

Six Bosnian immigrants have been accused of sending money and equipment to terrorists oversees, including fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group and al-Qaida in Iraq, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Feb. 6.

An indictment unsealed Feb. 6 in St. Louis said the defendants donated money themselves and in some cases collected funds from others in the U.S. and sent the donations oversees. It says two of the defendants used some of the money to buy U.S. military uniforms, firearms accessories, tactical gear and other equipment, which was shipped to people in Turkey and Saudi Arabia who forwarded the supplies to terrorists.

The supplies and money eventually made their way to fighters in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere, according to the indictment. Money also was sent to support family members of people fighting in Iraq and elsewhere, the indictment says. All of the defendants knew where the money and supplies were going, the indictment says.

The indictment alleges the conspiracy began no later than May 2013 and that the defendants used email, phones and social media websites including Facebook to communicate using coded words, such as "brothers," ”lions" and "Bosnian brothers."
                   
All six people who are charged are natives of Bosnia who were living in the U.S. legally. Three are naturalized citizens; the other three had either refugee or legal resident status, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
                   
The indictment names Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, 40, his wife, Sedina Unkic Hodzic, 35, and Armin Harcevic, 37, all of St. Louis; Nihad Rosic, 26 of Utica, New York; Mediha Medy Salkicevic, 34, of Schiller Park, Illinois; and Jasminka Ramic, 42 of Rockford, Illinois.
                   
All face charges of conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists and with providing material support to terrorists. Rosic and Ramiz Hodzic are also charged with conspiring to kill and maim people in a foreign country.
                   
The indictment says that last July, Rosic tried to board a flight from New York to Syria to join the fight.
                   
The U.S. attorney’s office said five of the defendants have been arrested; the sixth is overseas, but the Justice Department would not say exactly where.
                   
Online court records do not list defense attorneys for any of the defendants. According to court records, the Hodzics had a first appearance before a U.S. magistrate judge in St. Louis on Friday and the court said it would appoint attorneys for them.
                   
In a news release announcing the charges, the U.S. attorney’s office said charges of conspiring to provide material support and providing material support carry penalties ranging up to 15 years in prison. Conspiring to kill and maim people in a foreign country carries a penalty of up to life in prison.