Man appears in court charged with funding terrorism

By Ed Carty

A 25-year-old man has been charged in Ireland with funding terrorism.

Hasan Bal, who is originally from the UK and had been living in Waterford city, was remanded in custody after a brief hearing at Waterford District Court.

He is charged with providing funds for a terrorist organisation on October 2 2015 and attempting to provide funds on October 23 2015.

The court was told Bal made no reply when both charges were put to him by detectives.

Judge Kevin Staunton was told there was no issue when he asked if there were any "language difficulties" with Bal.

The judge had asked: "He's an English speaker?"

Two detectives gave a brief account to the court of when Bal was detained and charged.

He was arrested on Thursday in Waterford and charged with the two offences under the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005.

Bal, who has a beard and was wearing a black jacket, stood as the case was called.

He did not speak and no application for bail was made on his behalf.

Bal's solicitor Pat Newell told the court that he was applying for legal aid and that he was reserving his position on a bail application until the case is back before the court on Tuesday.

A woman arrested on Thursday in Waterford as part of the same investigation was released without charge, with a file being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.