The Hague, Netherlands (AP) – A Dutch court on Monday convicted two Syrian brothers of having played a senior role in the Jabat al-Nusra extremist group in their home country between 2011 and 2014, the first time Dutch judges have held a suspect of leadership. has been convicted. A Syrian extremist organization.
One brother has been sentenced to 15 years nine months, the other 11 years 9 months. His identity was not released in line with Dutch privacy regulations.
The Dutch court said in its ruling that Jabat al-Nusra carried out the attacks targeting the regime of President Bashar Assad.
“Those who worked for the regime were tortured and murdered,” the court said in a statement, adding that the group’s attacks resulted in civilian casualties and contributed to the armed conflict and chaos that left millions of Syrians in the country. prompted to run away.
Both brothers were given asylum in the Netherlands. But they came under police scrutiny when one of them was identified by visitors to a debate center in Amsterdam while a film about the Syrian civil war was being shown.
Both denied involvement in the extremist group, but the court said the judges convicted them based on a police investigation, which included vandalizing their homes and a car, and checking through their phones and computers.
The court said one of the brothers was jailed and tortured by the Assad regime before joining the Nusra group.
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