A South African man accused of sending bitcoin to an Islamic State affiliate in Syria, is set to be released on bail after a court ruled he is not a flight risk.
Accused Person Not a Flight Risk
A South African man accused of sending bitcoin (BTC) worth just over $600 to an Islamic State affiliate in Syria is set to be released from remand prison after a court acceded to his bail application. According to a local report, a Lichtenburg magistrate ruled that the state had failed to prove that Ziyadh Hoorzook was a flight risk. However, the magistrate conditioned Hoorzook’s release on payment of $1,616 (30,000 rands) in bail.
As reported by Bitcoin.com News in mid-January, South African law enforcement, which claims to have uncovered incriminating evidence, had opposed the granting of bail on the basis that Hoorzook would use this opportunity to evade trial. Hoorzook, however, denies the charge and insists he had no knowledge that the Syrian charitable organization had ties to terrorists when he donated the BTC.
While the alleged crime is said to have occurred in 2017, South African law enforcement only arrested Hoorzook at the start of this year. Local reports suggest that Hoorzook is being charged with violating sections of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy and Related Activities Act.
Some critics have slammed the arrest and arraignment of Hoorzook over the donation worth less than $1,000 as being overly harsh. However, the successful prosecution of a case tying BTC to terror funding is seen as bolstering Pretoria’s case for having the African country removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
Since being added to the FATF grey list in February 2023, South African authorities have pulled out all the stops to get the country delisted. Authorities have been especially focused on cryptocurrencies, with the latest step being an order mandating cryptocurrency entities to collect personal information of parties in crypto transactions.
Local media reports suggest that South African authorities view Hoorzook’s case as an opportunity to demonstrate to the FATF what the government is doing to combat terror funding. This view is shared by Willem Els of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).
“South Africa has become a hub for terrorism funding, and it’s been common knowledge for some time. The U.S. Treasury Department has already sanctioned six people here in South Africa for terror funding, and the South African authorities are currently working on that,” Els said.
