ST. LOUIS _ Federal prosecutors say that a former St. Louis County resident who fought and died in Syria boasted in Facebook messages to his supporters here about killing prisoners and buying a 16-year-old Yazidi slave.
The testimony came Tuesday in a hearing called to have three defendants in the criminal case against his alleged supporters released from jail until trial.
They have been held for 1,354 days while the complicated case grinds its way through the court system, defense lawyers complain.
The bulk of Tuesday's hearing dealt with whether the three represented a danger to the community, and could be trusted if placed on house arrest and some form of electronic monitoring while awaiting trial.
But part of what U.S. Magistrate David Noce must also consider is the strength of the evidence against them.
To address that, Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Drake said that after leaving the U.S., Abdullah Ramo Pazara eventually joined al-Qaida in Iraq, which evolved into the Islamic State. "He flew their banner. He wore their clothing," Drake said of Pazara and Islamic State.
Pazara sent pictures of himself wearing equipment supplied by his supporters here, Drake said, spoke of capturing and killing prisoners, as well as the slave and attending beheadings. Drake said Pazara admitted on multiple occasions that "I'm a terrorist" in his messages.
Drake said that one of the defendants in the St. Louis case, Nihad Rosic, trained with Pazara near Rosic's hometown of Utica, N.Y., and tried twice to travel to Syria.
Another, Ramiz Hodzic, contacted others to raise money for supplies for Pazara, Drake claimed, and gave tactical advice and instructions on building silencers to Pazara. He also wanted to join Pazara, Drake claimed.
The third, Mediha Medy Salkicevic, of Schiller Park, Ill., is less culpable, Drake said, but provided Pazara support and messaged with Pazara about his need for a new knife for "slaughtering people."
Drake also predicted additional long delays before any defendant could see trial. Defense lawyers want to depose two overseas witnesses, and issues associated with the use of classified information in the case and evidence obtained via the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act will be "extremely protracted," he said. Prosecutors may also add a charge to the indictment, he said.
Many of Drake's claims about the evidence were met with scoffing by the defendants, who shook their heads in disapproval while listening in court.
Defense lawyers have argued that Pazara fought for groups that were also supported by the U.S. government, making him a "lawful combatant" and support for him also lawful.
Rosic lawyer JoAnn Trog said the legality and intent of the defendants' actions were the two main issues. She also said that the defendants shouldn't be held responsible for Pazara's actions in Syria, adding that a "litany of evidence" showed that his demeanor and attitudes changed there. They believed that their support was going to humanitarian causes, she said.
"Yes, our clients may have listened to him, but it doesn't mean they joined," she said.
She also said that Rosic and Pazara were friends and were hunting together, not training.
Diana Dragan, who represents Hodzic, said that the total amount of support alleged to have gone overseas was just $10,000, and that her clients and the others have a strong defense.
Both Dragan and Trog said that there has never been a claim that any defendant planned harm to anyone in the U.S.
Noce has not yet made a decision on whether the three will be released.
The three in court Tuesday were among six indicted in February 2015.
One defendant, Jasminka Ramic, then 43, formerly of Illinois, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in September 2015 and was sentenced to three years in prison. She was released a year ago.
