33-Year-Old Convicted for Terrorism Financing
Yusup M. was part of a group of perpetrators who had raised a high double-digit million amount for IS. However, he was acquitted of the charge of a leading role, as the evidence was insufficient. It was found that he had extensively collected for IS in Austria from spring 2022 to July. The funds supported fighters and their families in Syria and Iraq and were used to ransom IS supporters.
Four and a Half Years in Prison for Terrorism Financing
The verdict is not final. Yusup M., who has been in Austria since 2015 and, according to his own statements, worked as a supplier until his arrest on July 25, 2024, accepted the sentence imposed on him after consulting with his defense attorney Florian Kreiner. The prosecutor initially made no statement.
In 2022, Yusup M. joined a group called "Jamaat," which included Chechen men in Belgium, Germany, and Turkey besides him. Under the pseudonym Abu Ashab, the 33-year-old reportedly collected "horrendous sums" with increasingly professional online appearances, as stated in the indictment.
There were several donation channels, with a total of 73.5 million US dollars (62.77 million euros) being funneled into the coffers through just one, according to the indictment. Several hundred thousand US dollars were collected through a second channel. The defendant himself allegedly transferred another two to three million alone, the prosecutor claimed.
Defendant in Terrorism Financing Trial: "Was Not the Mastermind"
The defendant admitted to participating in the fundraising. "But I was not the mastermind," he assured in the Gray House. When confronted with a chat in which he boasted of having collected three to four million US dollars all by himself, the 33-year-old said he had "exaggerated" and wanted to present himself as a "super helper": "I overdid it. It wasn't that much."
"We were a charity fund," the 33-year-old testified. Originally, it was about women of IS fighters interned in camps in Syria and Iraq and their children: "But the others then had other ideas." He had participated in votes within the group that supported the assistance of IS fighters: "I had to join in. I had recently joined, I didn't know what to do."
The cross-border organization had specifically supported IS and financed weapons worth tens of thousands of euros for so-called foreign fighters - Chechens fighting in Syria. Explosives were also found in the vicinity of "Jamaat." One of the members, who is in custody in Belgium, had acquired components of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) - the relatively easy-to-manufacture, highly explosive substance has been repeatedly used for terrorist-motivated bombings recently.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.