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Danish man charged for joining Isis in Syria

The Local Denmark
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Danish man charged for joining Isis in Syria
Attorney General Lise-Lotte Nilas believes that enlisting in ISIS implies support for its terror crimes. Photo: Haidar Hamdani/Scanpix

A 23-year-old Danish citizen has been charged with joining Islamic State in Syria, in the country’s first ever prosecution of an ISIS jihadi.

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The man, who has a Turkish background, travelled to Syria in 2013 and was then arrested in March as he was allegedly planning to travel to Syria once again. 
 
“The criminal case against the 23-year-old is being brought in connection to Islamic State, which is known to commit terrorist acts in Syria,” Denmark’s Attorney General Lise-Lotte Nilas said in a press release. 
 
“It is the prosecution’s view that everyone joining Islamic State in Syria has basically agreed to take part in the terrorist acts that IS commits in the country.” 
 
As the man faces a prison sentence of more than four years, there will be a jury at the trial. 
 
If Turkish authorities confirm that the man has dual citizenship, he also faces losing his Danish nationality. 
 
The man is being charged with ‘enlisting in a terrorist organisation’ and also with ‘supporting a terrorist organisation’ as the prosecutor claims he intended to bring 20,000 Danish kroner ($2,941) with him to Syria to support IS.
 
According to Denmark’s state broadcaster DR, the man was in March the first suspected jihadi to have his passport stripped from him, just days after Denmark brought in new laws granting police this power. 
 
According to DR, the police received a tip-off from someone who overheard him speaking positively about Islamic State in a pizza restaurant, and boasting that he had travelled to Syria to fight in 2013. 
 
Three days later the man was arrested. 
 

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