MIDEAST-CRISIS/GERMANY TRIAL 22-year-old goes on trial in Germany accused of IS membership

Record ID: 148017

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/GERMANY TRIAL 22-year-old goes on trial in Germany accused of IS membership
  • Date: 8th July 2015
  • Summary: DUESSELDORF, GERMANY (JULY 08, 2015) (REUTERS POOL) VARIOUS OF ACCUSED NEZET ALIJA S. ARRIVING IN COURTROOM (HIS FACE PIXELATED AS REQUESTED BY COURT) AND SITTING DOWN, SPEAKING TO HIS LAWYER EBERHARD HABERKERN
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2YXO51BAOW64NTKM7HMU0A0B
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The trial against a 22-year-old man accused of fighting for Islamic State (IS) in Syria started in Duesseldorf on Wednesday (July 8).
    Nezet Alija S. is believed to have undergone training in Syria in 2014 to fight forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
    He was arrested in Germany a week after his return.
    "The accused is believed to have travelled to Syria last year at the age of 21 where he joined IS, " Andreas Vitek, a spokesman for the Duesseldorf Higher Regional Court, told reporters.
    "He is believed to have received weapons training to prepare for combat which he actually took part in in Syria. Together with IS, the accused is believed to have tried to throw over the Syrian regime in order to create a fundamentalist theocratic state based on sharia," said Vitek.
    The defendant remains in custody since his arrest in September 2014.
    He is also accused of indoctrinating people at a vocational school, according to local media and faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years if convicted.
    Eberhard Haberkern, lawyer of Nezet Alija S., said that his client had been tempted to join the IS but that he was never a member.
    "He did go to Syria but before anything happened, he turned around and came back. I believe people who distance themselves and come back should not be punished especially harshly," Haberkern said.
    He added that the accused was "nervous. It's the first time he faces such an audience and he is not the kind of professional who would stay calm. He is rather someone who feels quite overwhelmed by so much attention."
    The trial is ongoing and the date of the verdict is not yet known.
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