Alleged funds to Hamas, trial requested for Hannoun and five others

The Genoa prosecutor's office has requested the indictment of the Palestinian activist Mohammad Hannoun and five other people, accused in various capacities of association with the aim of terrorism for the alleged financing of Hamas through charities and external competition. The preliminary hearing, before judge Carla Pastorini, is set for November 12.

Hannoun, 64 years old, has been in the high security prison of Terni since last December and will ask, through his lawyers Fabio Sommovigo and Dario Rossi, to be able to physically participate in the hearings instead of via video link as ordered by the judge. The lawyer clarifies that remote participation in trials is required by law for the most serious crimes "despite the fact that for the most complicated proceedings, such as this one, the presence of proximity between the defender and his client is extremely necessary".

The State of Israel, cited in the decree as the offended party together with the Italian State, could become a civil party in the trial. Recently the Court of Cassation, which had for the first time sent the documents back to Genoa for a review of the evidentiary framework, rejected the lawyers' requests for release. According to the prosecutors of the DDA of Genoa Marco Zocco and Luca Monteverde, Hannoun would be at the top of the Italian Hamas cell (together with the co-investigators Riyad Albustanji, Yaser Elasaly, Raed Dawoud) and through the charity company Abspp and two other connected associations he would have collected a total of over 18 million from 2001 to 2025. Of these, over seven went directly or indirectly to Hamas.

With them, the prosecutor's office has requested the indictment of Khalil Abu Deiah and Ibrahim Salameh Abu Rawwa, both of whom are accused of external complicity in association with terrorist purposes for having supported the collection of funds even though they were not part of Hamas. They too had been arrested on December 27, but the Review had released them. To reach the decision on the indictment, more than one hearing may be necessary and time is running out because if the decision does not arrive by December 27, Hannoun and the others will have to be released from prison due to the expiry of the deadline.