Appeal process against suspected IS fighters started in Paris

The appeal process begins today (10 a.m.) in Paris against a Syrian recognized as a refugee in Germany, whom the French judiciary accuses of playing a leading role in the Islamic State terrorist militia. The 43-year-old is said to have acted as a leading IS member in connection with the hostage-taking of seven Western journalists and NGO employees in Aleppo, Syria, in 2013 and 2014.

Two of the kidnapped French journalists later identified him. In a first trial, the defendant was sentenced to 20 years in prison for membership in a terrorist organization.

According to French media reports, the defendant, who was arrested in Germany in 2019 at the instigation of France, lived in Kassel as a recognized asylum seeker and studied chemistry first in Göttingen and then in Marburg. Syrian refugees exposed him as a suspected IS fighter and bomb attack specialist who went by the nickname Abu Hamza TNT. They filed a report with the police in Dortmund in 2015, as the newspaper “Le Monde” reported.

IS Manual for Making Explosives

The German judiciary then began investigations into suspected terrorist activities. During an interview, an IS manual containing around 4,200 pages on how to make explosives was found on his computer. The German investigation was nevertheless discontinued due to a lack of evidence.

The trial runs until October 13th. The case provided the basis for the film Les Fantômes (The Shadowhunters).