German court hands Islamic State terrorist 5.5 year sentence

DPA
·1 min read
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A view of the regional court and district court. German authorities have arrested three teenagers aged 15 and 16 on suspicion of plotting a deadly Islamist terrorist attack in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, prosecutors said on Friday. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
A view of the regional court and district court. German authorities have arrested three teenagers aged 15 and 16 on suspicion of plotting a deadly Islamist terrorist attack in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, prosecutors said on Friday. Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

A German court has sentenced a 43-year-old Islamic State terrorist to five and a half years in prison, a court spokeswoman said on Friday.

The man joined the terrorist group in Syria in 2013 and continued to support it in Germany, procuring money for the group until he was arrested in 2021.

Prosecutors in the western city of Dusseldorf called for a prison sentence of six and a half years, while the defence called for two and a half years.

The man from Algeria was found to have joined combat operations as an Islamic State terrorist in Syria from 2013 to 2015, particularly in Aleppo and Kobane. He also trained fighters and took part in negotiations on the exchange of Islamic State fighters who were captured, according to the court.

He left Syria in June 2015 after pressure on Islamic State grew. After entering Germany in August 2015, he collected around €9,000 ($9,570) in donations in 2020 to support women who were members of Islamic State in the Syrian refugee camp Al-Hol to smuggle them out of the camp.

The judgement is not yet final.