This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6872

Sharia4Belgium Declared Terror Group - Leader Fouad Belkacem Jailed For 12 Years In Belgium's Biggest Terror Trial

February 11, 2015

wo 11 feb 2015, 11:01

Leider Sharia4Belgium krijgt twaalf jaar cel

MIM: The movement Sharia4Belgium has been declared a terror organisation and its leader Fouad Belkacem was jailed for 12 years in what is Belgium's biggest terror trial to date.Other members of the organisation received varying jail sentences between 10 and 15 years and fines. The judge ruled that Belkacem was guilty of radicalistion of youth and the overthrow of democracy with the intent of establishing an Islamic state.

Antwerpen -

De leider van de inmiddels opgedoekte radicale moslimbeweging Sharia4Belgium, Fouad Belkacem, moet twaalf jaar de cel in. Ook kreeg hij een boete opgelegd van 5000 euro, oordeelde de rechtbank in Antwerpen woensdag, meldden Vlaamse media.

De rechter acht Belkacem verantwoordelijk voor de radicalisering van jongeren „om hen klaar te stomen voor de gewapende strijd waarin geen plaats is voor democratische waarden". Volgens de rechter is bewezen dat Belkacem dé leider was van de terroristische organisatie Sharia4Belgium.

Omvergooien van democratie

De straf is lager dan de eis van het Openbaar Ministerie. Het OM wilde dat Belkacem vijftien jaar cel en een boete van 30.000 euro zou krijgen. Het OM bestempelde Belkacem als de onbetwiste leider van de groep die maar één doel had: het omvergooien van de democratie en het oprichten van een islamitische staat. Belkacem heeft altijd gezegd alleen te willen provoceren.

Geïndoctrineerd

Jejoen Bontinck, beklaagde maar ook kroongetuige, kreeg een voorwaardelijke celstraf van veertig maanden en een geldboete. Het OM had vier jaar cel en een boete van 6000 euro tegen hem geëist. Volgens de rechter is Bontinck geïndoctrineerd, maar was hij niet gehersenspoeld en dus nog altijd zelf verantwoordelijk voor zijn handelen. Maar de rechter hield wel rekening met het feit dat Bontinck belastende verklaringen had gegeven over andere leden van de groepering en had meegewerkt met justitie.

Andere kopstukken van Sharia4Belgium kregen tien tot vijftien jaar cel opgelegd en fikse boetes. Andere leden, lager in de hiërarchie verder veroordeeld tot vijf jaar cel en geldboetes.

http://www.telegraaf.nl/buitenland/23669902/__Cel_voor_leider_Sharia4Belgium__.html

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Sharia4Belgium trial: Belgian Court Jails Members

"A 19-year-old from Antwerp... always said that he had been radicalised by the organisation", reports Duncan Crawford outside the court

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A Belgian court has jailed the leader of a group that sent jihadists to Syria, in the largest-ever trial of its kind in the country.

The court in Antwerp found a total of 45 members of the Sharia4Belgium group guilty of terror-related offences.

The judge called the organisation "a terrorist group" and sentenced leader Fouad Belkacem to 12 years in prison.

The other 44 members were given sentences, some suspended, ranging between three and 15 years.

The group sent recruits to militant groups such as Islamic State (IS), prosecutors said.

Only seven of the accused were at the court for the ruling. Most others are said to still be in Syria, and some may already be dead.

One high-profile member, Jejoen Bontinck, got a suspended sentence of 40 months. He made headlines after his father travelled to Syria and brought him home, and later appeared in the trial as a prosecution witness.

Duncan Crawford, BBC News, Antwerp

Prosecutors said Fouad Belkacem brainwashed dozens of young men to fight with jihadi groups in Syria. The court heard evidence that he used lectures and social media to recruit and radicalise people.

Some of the witnesses accused him of indoctrinating them. Prosecutors also presented wiretaps and video images as evidence which, they argued, proved Sharia4Belgium members were involved in terror activities. Mr Belkacem denied the charges against him.

In an open letter to the press he said that he "never recruited, incited or sent" fighters to Syria. His lawyers argued that he did not buy anyone flights to Syria or introduce his followers to jihadists.

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Officials say about 350 Belgians have gone to fight in Syria and Iraq, the highest number per capita in Europe.

They estimate that 10% of the Belgians who have gone to fight in Syria had links to Sharia4Belgium.

European security agencies fear that jihadists who return from those countries could mount attacks on domestic targets.

'Adolescent angst'

Belkacem, the ringleader of the now defunct Sharia4Belgium, smiled as the judge read out his ruling. He had denied the charges.

The judge said he was "responsible for the radicalisation of young men to prepare them for Salafist combat, which has at its core no place for democratic values".

The family of Jejoen Bontinck, now 20, said Jejoen was a victim of "grooming" by Sharia4Belgium, and denied he was a security threat.

Speaking earlier on Wednesday as they arrived at court, his father Dmitri Bontinck told reporters: "I didn't go and pick up my son in Syria, only to see him thrown in jail here."

He has argued that the group attracted youngsters while they were going through moments of adolescent angst.

Five other members were at the court on Wednesday, while one was represented by his lawyer, Belgian media reported.

The others were tried in absentia. Most - like 21-year-old Brian De Mulder - are still believed to be fighting, or dead, in Syria.

However, the judge said that there was not sufficient evidence of any of the suspects being killed, so they could still be convicted, Dutch media reported.

Graphic showing numbers of foreign fighters from Europe involved in Iraq and Syria, 21 January 2015

The trial, which has been held under tight security, started in September last year and followed a series of raids across the country.

Belgium deployed hundreds of troops last month to protect potential targets of terrorist attacks after a series of raids against suspected jihadists.

The eastern city of Verviers was the site of one of the raids, where a shootout left two suspects dead. Prosecutors said the group targeted had planned to kill police officers.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31378724

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/6872