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German court gives online terror recruiter five year sentence
A German court sentenced a Syrian-born militant for five years on Thursday for posting jihadi propaganda on the internet aimed at recruiting new members for Al Qaeda. The higher regional court in Koblenz, western Germany said it convicted the 26-year-old defendant identified only as Hussam S on 44 counts of recruiting for "foreign terrorist networks" from September 2007 to December 2009. He was also found guilty of two counts of supporting foreign terrorist groups. It said, "He released 44 publications online calling for participation in violent jihad by Al Qaeda, Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Islamic Jihad Union and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. "The evaluation of the internet postings found that the defendant not only called for armed jihad against foreign troops in Afghanistan and Iraq in particular but for the violent spread of terrorism around the world." The court said he had published German-language propaganda online, much of it translated from audio and video messages by leading Al Qaeda members. In two cases, he posted a video showing the beheading of a U.S. citizen used as promotional material by Al Qaeda in Iraq. Hussam S was arrested in July 2010 in the western German town of Montabaur. He was born in Syria and is of Palestinian origin. He has lived in Germany since 1990 and was registered as a student. The jail sentence was close to the demand of federal prosecutors, who had called for five years and six months imprisonment. The defendant did not address the court during his trial and his lawyers said the case against him was flawed without specifically calling for his acquittal. Posted by: ryuge 2012-03-23 |
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