Serbia Charges Five over Syria Jihadist Recruitment
Serbia's prosecutor for organized crime said Wednesday he has charged five men for terrorism over recruiting, financing and transporting fighters for conflict in Syria.
The five are accused of "joining forces to finance terrorism, train and recruit people for terrorist acts," the prosecutor Miljko Radisavljevic said in a statement received by Agence France-Presse.
The five are suspected to "have organized and financed the departure of Serbian citizens as well as people from other countries to camps for terrorist training in Syria and later to conflict zones," Radisavljevic said.
One of the accused allegedly organized the travel of jihadists from Istanbul to terrorist training camps in Syria, while another was suspected of helping them to settle and organizing their training in the Syrian town of Azaz, the prosecutor said.
Three of the five have been detained since March, while the prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for the two who remained at large.
If found guilty on terrorism charges they face up to 10 years imprisonment.
The Serbian government has supported the U.S.-led fight against Islamic State group.
Members of Serbia's Muslim community, mostly living in the southeastern region of Sandzak, are generally moderate, but some have adopted doctrines inspired by the strict Saudi brand of Islam called Wahhabism.
In a bid to fight the growing threat of radical Islam, Serbian parliament was to launch a debate Wednesday on legislation to criminalize joining jihadist combat abroad.
Following reports that hundreds of people from the Balkans have been fighting in Syria and Iraq, the states in the region have launched efforts to clamp down on recruiting jihadists.
Source: Agence France Presse
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