Twelve Chechens convicted in Belgium for recruiting militants

Today, the court of the city of Bruges has sentenced 12 natives of Chechnya to prison terms ranging from 15 months to ten years, after finding them guilty of recruiting militants for taking part in the warfare in Syria.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in June 2015, after a broad-scale operation in Belgian cities, 16 natives from Chechnya were detained as suspects of extremist activities.

The above court has found the natives from Chechnya Shalil M. and Ruslan D., who were detained in the above June operation, to be the leaders of the grouping engaged in recruiting fighters for the "Islamic State" (IS), banned in Russia by the court, the "RTL Belgium" reports.

According to the prosecutors, Shalil M. was repeatedly seen on the Bulgarian-Turkish border; and in Istanbul he had a refuge, where potential militants were temporarily housed.

Among all the today's convicts, Shalil M. received the largest term – ten years in prison. Ruslan D., who, according to investigators, had fought in Syria for a long time, was sentenced to eight years. The remaining defendants received prison terms ranging from 15 months to five years; while the thirteenth defendant was acquitted by the court, the RTL reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.