A woman returning from Syria was sentenced to three years and four months in prison in Berlin.
The 31-year-old woman traveled to Syria from Berlin with her then three-year-old daughter in December 2014 to join the terrorist organization “Islamic State”.
The capital court of the capital found the German guilty of membership in a terrorist organization abroad, the deprivation of minors, the violation of the duty of care and education and the violation of the War Weapons Control Act. She was also convicted of fraud. During her time in Syria, she received unjustified social benefits and child benefit - a total of 8,700 euros. The court ordered the collection of compensation in this amount. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
The defendant knew that her daughter would be exposed to considerable dangers in the war zone, the verdict said.
The mother closed her eyes to it "because, as the wife of a fighter, she wanted to make her contribution to the victory of IS that she hoped for".
The child had experienced acts of violence and bombing attacks with fatalities.
“The daughter is deeply traumatized by what she experienced.” The nine-year-old today is marked for her life.
The accused had admitted to having represented radical Islamist sentiments and to having moved to IS territory of her own free will.
She did not inform the father who remained in Germany.
In Syria she married several IS fighters one after the other according to Islamic law.
After the death of one of her husbands, the woman was given a "Kalashnikov" for self-protection according to the judgment.
In September 2018, she fled Syria with her children because of the increasingly difficult conditions.
In April 2019 she traveled to Germany - now heavily pregnant with her fourth child.
She has been in custody since August 2020.
According to the court, the defendant credibly described her detachment from extremist ideas during the trial.
The public prosecutor had asked for three years and nine months in prison.
The defenders pleaded for a maximum of three years.