Ali Zubair

Ali Zubair was born in Pakistan on October 29, 1969. Before settling in Olbia, he lived in Tarragona, Spain, and would come to Olbia during the summer as a street vendor.
He was arrested in April 2015, subjected to precautionary custody order, and accused of being part of a terrorist network close to al-Qaeda and other jihadist organisations, operating between Olbia and Rome under the direction of Sultan Wali Khan. He was also accused of aiding and abetting illegal immigration.
Ali Zubair was charged with terrorist association according to Article 270, and Law 4 of March 16, 2006, no. 146. According to court documents, he was working under the directives of Sultan Wali Khan to transport the funds collected in northern Sardinia and maintained contacts with the main organisation in Pakistan when it came to the planning and logistics.
Zubair was also implicated in a money transfer case in September 2011, where €50,000 was sent from Italy to Pakistan. Although the prosecution suspected this transfer was for financing terrorism, there was no conclusive evidence, and it was suggested that the money might have been related to Sultan Wali Khan’s legitimate business activities.
The prosecution alleged that Ali Zubair was connected to the terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam, as evidenced by several phone conversations dated 2009 and 2010. For example, in August 2009 he received confirmation that a Taliban commander believed to be dead was still alive, with a request for prayers and financial support from the Olbia group, indicating his involvement in aiding the TeT. By June 2010, Zubair had multiple conversations with TeT leaders, receiving personal congratulations for his contributions and discussing the need for firearms and plans for terror attacks. In August 2010, Zubair revealed his involvement in scouting locations for an attempted assassination of Pakistan’s president, further confirming his active role within the terrorist network. However, the Tribunal of Sassari concluded that Ali Zubair was not part of the same criminal association involving Sultan Wali Khan and Mohammed Hafiz Zulkifal but was instead linked to a different network through a madrasa where Taliban members studied.
In April 2019, the Assize Court of Sassari, which was handling the case, advised proceeding separately for Ali Zubair. The Court of Assizes in Sassari returned the case to the prosecutor to formulate new charges. Although there was evidence related to alleged activities of financing and connecting with terrorist groups, Zubair was not part of the terrorist organisation for which he was initially being tried. In the retrial, the prosecutor did not change the charges against him, and in March 2022, the Assize Court of Sassari declared that there was no case to answer, meaning there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case. However, in March 2024, the Court of Cassation dismissed the previous sentences and a new trial began in September 2024, despite Ali Zubair having been declared dead.