DETROIT — Details unraveled this week at the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan during a two day probable cause hearing for Mohammad Hassan Hamdan, a 22-year-old Dearborn Heights man who was detained by the FBI on Sunday March 16 at Detroit Metro Airport for allegedly planning to fly to Lebanon to join Hizbullah.

Hamdan, who made his first public appearance since his arrest, was calm and cooperative as he sat next to his Defense Attorney Arthur Weiss. His family and friends packed the courtroom on both Monday, March 24 and Tuesday, March 25. Hamdan’s mother and sisters were in an emotional state during the course of the hearing, at times entering and exiting the courtroom in tears. 

Executive Magistrate Judge R. Steven Wahlen told the courtroom on Tuesday, March 25 that he will need additional time to review evidence that was presented to him over the two-day hearing . The hearing included testimonies from both the prosecution and defense, which included audio transcripts, as well as testimonies from Hamdan’s family, his friends and FBI agents. 

Hamdan remains under temporary detainment until Judge Wahlen decides whether sufficient evidence exists in order to move forward with the case. Whalen will also rule whether  Hamdan will be eligible to post bond. He was charged with “attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization” by the FBI and the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.  

An undercover informant had told the FBI in September 2013 that Hamdan had expressed interest in flying to Lebanon to join Hizbullah as they fought alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces in the Syrian war. In the months that followed, the informant recorded two conversations with Hamdan where he is overheard expressing interest in joining Hizbullah.

However, as an FBI agent was reading transcripts during testimony, the defense questioned the reliability of the undercover informant who filed the complaint against Hamdan. 

The FBI revealed to the courtroom that the informant had previously received payments and was hired because he wanted to amend for some difficulties with the U.S. government. According to the FBI testimony, the informant is receiving an immigration benefit for his services.

No other details were revealed about the undercover informant in court other than the fact that he is significantly older than Hamdan and is a restaurant owner in Dearborn. Defense Attorney Weiss argued that the informant was persistent in trying to set up Hamdan to express his support and involvement with Hizbullah, even when Hamdan would try to stray away from the topic during their recorded conversations.

At one point Hamdan did tell the informant that he would likely be paid anywhere from $500 to $1000 a month if he were to join Hizbullah. Hamdan’s defense argued that his main intentions for meeting with the informant was because he thought the informant could help him add some touches to his Cadillac, which he planned on giving to his sister when he returned from Lebanon. 

The undercover informant is heard saying in the audio recording that he has a brother who is a member of Hizbullah, and the brother has been traveling back and forth between Lebanon and Syria to fight with the group.  

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Waterstreet presented evidence to the court in an attempt to argue that Hamdan is a radical Hizbullah supporter. One exhibit was a screenshot of Hamdan’s Facebook page, which includes a picture of a female holding a gun with Arabic scripture on it. The language translates to “Hizbullah girls make us proud.”

The prosecutors continued to point to evidence that might suggest Hamdan had planned to permanently leave the country. They acknowledged several times that Hamdan had recently sold his house and was looking to give ownership of his vehicle to his sister. 

Hamdan’s younger sister Hiba testified during the hearing. One of the items found in Hamdan’s luggage was Hiba’s cell phone. She told the courtroom that she had broken the screen on her phone and it had sustained water damage, so she asked her brother to repair it in Lebanon for a much cheaper price and bring it back with him. 

Along with the fact that Hamdan had booked a round-trip ticket, which would have had him return to the U.S. on May 3, the defense used Hiba’s testimony to convince the judge that Hamdan had no intention of staying in Lebanon to fight for Hizbullah. The prosecutors tried to argue that her phone could have been mailed back to her. 

Hamdan’s current health condition and employment history was also heavily debated in the courtroom. According to his family, he has a dysfunctional lung, a dislocated shoulder, asthma and allergies. However, the prosecution argued that despite his health problems he was still employed as recently as three months ago working in construction.

Hanan Abboud, the oldest sister in the family, also testified. According to the FBI transcripts, Hanan hid her brother’s passport when she found out that he had plans to travel to Lebanon. Hanan debunked those allegations during her testimony, stating that she had kept his passport in a safe because he asked her to, and he had the combination to access it whenever he wanted. 

Hanan also added that she helped her mother and brother apply for U.S. citizenship in November 2013, however Hamdan wasn’t eligible to have his fees waved like the rest of his family, so his application was delayed until he was able to make a payment. Hanan adds that Hamdan had his passport as late as January 2014. In early March, he filed a report with the Dearborn Heights Police Department claiming that his passport was lost. 

According to the FBI transcripts, Hamdan had told the informant as early as September 2013 that he had no access to his passport because his sister was withholding it. However, in order to apply for a U.S. citizenship, an applicant must present a passport, which Hamdan did do in January 2014 during his citizenship application process.

Hamdan has had prior run-ins with the law. In 2013, he was charged with possession of marijuana in the 20th District Court. He had still been on probation for that incident at the time he was detained by the FBI. Hamdan’s defense pointed out that he received permission from the court to travel, which means he intended on returning. However, prosecutors argue that he booked a round-trip ticket so he could mislead the court into thinking he was returning. 

His sister Hanan also added that he was supposed to take classes required by his probation in May, and she was supposed to schedule those classes for him while he was in Lebanon. Hamdan claimed his purpose to take a trip to Lebanon was to get dental work done. Hanan told the courtroom that she told her brother to get his teeth done in Lebanon because it was much cheaper than doing it in the U.S. 

Other arguments the defense made included pointing out some traditions of Hizbullah. Weiss told the judge that the militant group does not accept members who are the sole male child in their family, which is the case with Hamdan. 

Weiss also expressed concerns about the FBI transcript, claiming that the translation of Hamdan’s conversation with the informant in Arabic was not translated accurately into English. He claims that the only time Hamdan mentioned Syria was when he told the informant he planned to go visit a religious shrine there.

Meanwhile, prosecutors attacked Hamdan’s character, arguing that he was lazy, likes to smoke marijuana and was ready to leave his life behind in the U.S. to go join Hizbullah. The prosecution pointed out inconsistencies in statements made by both Hamdan and his family regarding his earnings and a possible violation of his probation.

The prosecution also argued that it would be a risk if the judge decides to place Hamdan on bond, because they fear he will flee to Canada and fly to Lebanon. Hamdan’s defense argued that he has a strong base of family and friends in the community and that is not likely to occur, recommending that he be put on a GPS tether. 

After the hearing, James Makled, a close family friend to the Hamdan family, spoke with The Arab American News. He says that it is good news that the judge is taking time to review the case, because that usually doesn’t happen with terrorism charges.

“The fact that this case was argued and the judge needed to make a decision on the bond, it speaks volumes on the weakness of the case that the DA has presented,” Makled says. “What it boils down to is a child saying things he shouldn’t have said to someone. There isn’t any shred of evidence that shows that he is qualified or fit to be anything that they are accusing him of being.” 

Makled says that Hamdan’s family and friends are distraught by the entire ordeal. They’ve even offered six homes as collateral in order to ensure that Hamdan be placed on bond. He adds that despite all these troubles, Hamdan’s family still has faith that the FBI will see that they made a mistake.

“One of the things we are counting on is the fact that we still think that the FBI is the single most intelligent agency in the world. While this statement may sound contradictory of how we feel about this case, I honestly think it’s the same exact thing that will break Hamdan through,” Makled says. “They will see soon enough that it’s just a case that is blown out of proportion. If there is any agency that could review its own work and the circumstances of the cases that they worked on, it’s the FBI.”

Executive Magistrate Judge R. Steven Wahlen is set to make a decision on how to move forward with the case on Monday, March 31 at 1 p.m. at the U.S. District Court.