Frankfurt: Young man sentenced to over three years in prison for IS support

Frankfurt: Young man sentenced to over three years in prison for IS support

At the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court, two significant judgments against supporters of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS) were recently felled. In the first case, a 28-year-old man, Deard M., was sentenced to three years and four months in prison. Between May 2020 and August 2021, he had transferred around 4,200 euros to a donation network, which provided financial support to IS members in northern Syrian internment camps. According to t-online dignity.

The convict comes from a Kosovar immigrant family and had already conflict with the law as a teenager. His radicalization began during a youth penalty of several years, in which he developed a growing interest in Islam. After his release, he deepened into Islamist-Salafist content and consumed intensive IS propaganda on the Internet. His transfers took place during an ongoing probation period.

condemnation and their reasons

The court took into account both mitigating and aggravating circumstances in the judgment. The fact that the deeds were almost four years ago, as well as the granted responsibility and the difficult humanitarian conditions in the northern Syrian, were mitigating. In contrast, his considerable criminal records, the long crime room, the high number of transfers and the special danger of IS were a serious. The judgment is not yet final; Both the convict and the Attorney General have the opportunity to make revision.

The 39-year-old Nadja R. was also convicted of the Higher Regional Court, who received a prison sentence of three years and three months for IS membership and war crimes. Their judgment was announced on January 24, 2024, and both sides waived revision, which made the judgment final. Nadja R. traveled to Syria in 2014, married an IS fighter and later lived in Iraq in the house of a refugee family.

In the process, she made a comprehensive confession. It was taken into account as mitigating that it had to live under difficult conditions in the camps in which she was. Before that, she had tried to recruit more IS members by contacting women on Facebook who were interested in marriage. Her childhood was shaped by severe trauma, among other things she was forced and kidnapped at the age of 14.

radicalization of individuals

The cases of Deard M. and Nadja R. once again illustrate the challenges of radicalization of young people to Islamist extremism. Studies show that in particular, dealing with Islamist-Salafist ideologies via the Internet is a decisive factor for the radicalization process. According to bpb , many are affected by personal experiences and on the other hand by access to extremist content on the Internet are.

The linking of personal trauma, social factors and the influence of online communities plays an important role. It remains a central challenge to counteract these radicalization processes and to offer support for affected individuals.