Terrorism Illinois mother of four to stay in jail until she goes on trial for supporting terrorism

A federal judge has refused to release 34-year old mother of four, Mediha Medy Salkicevic, a Bosnian native residing in Schiller Park, Illinois, accused of conspiring to provide material support and resources to terrorists and providing material support to terrorists including the Islamic State and al-Qaeda in Iraq. The Chicago Tribune reports that at a court hearing Monday, prosecutors asked U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole to keep Salkicevic, a supervisor at Alliance Ground International, a cargo handler at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, in federal custody as she posed a flight risk.

Prosecutor Angel Krull said on Monday that Salkicevic’s relationship with relatives in Bosnia increased her chances of fleeing the United States. Defense attorney Andrea Gambino told the court that her client has four children living in the United States and no interest in leaving them. Additionally, there is no evidence that she poses a danger, Gambino said.

Cole acknowledged that with her passport seized by federal authorities, Salkicevic would likely be unable to leave the country, but her alleged support of violent extremism makes her dangerous to the public.

“She is alleged to have transferred money, which is not itself a dangerous act,” Gambino replied.

Salkicevic and other Bosnian immigrants, including St. Louis County residents — Ramiz Zijad Hodzic, his wife, Sedina Unkic Hodzic, and Armin Harcevic; along with Nihad Rosic of New York; and Jasminka Ramic of Rockford, Illinois — are accused of sending money and equipment to fighters in Syria and Iraq, as well as to families of fighters (see “Six charged in St. Louis for supporting terrorism,” HSNW, 9 February 2015). According to the indictment, Salkicevic made at least three money transfers since 2013 via Paypal and Western Union to Ramiz Hodzic. The funds, $1,500 in August 2013, $1,200 in October 2013, and $1,062 in January 2014, were then used to support jihadists overseas. In a two-hour video interview regarding her charges, Salkicevic acknowledged the payment accounts belonged to her.

Prosecutors also claim that in late 2013, Ramiz Hodzic sent Salkicevic a photo of two sniper rifle scopes being shipped, to which Salkicevic replied that she hoped the scopes would be put to good use. Cole on Monday said that according to the indictment, Salkicevic seemed “quite joyous” that the sniper scopes would soon be used to kill people. “There is at least an element of approval and satisfaction … over these instruments of death,” Cole said.

Cole’s decision means that Salkicevic must be escorted by U.S. Marshals to St. Louis, where the case is being handled. Salkicevic faces up to thirty years in prison if convicted, but for now, she is innocent, Gambino noted. “An indictment is what the government thinks happened. Sometimes they’re right sometimes they’re wrong,” she told ABC7.