IS Returnee in Court in Vienna on April 9

As her defense attorney Anna Mair explained in a conversation with the APA on Thursday, the 26-year-old will plead guilty in the trial scheduled for three hours. The accused faces up to five years in prison.

"She voluntarily surrendered to Kurdish forces of the Free Syrian Army with her husband in November 2017 and was recently interned with her son in the Al Roj detention camp in Syria. She has spent eight years in captivity under difficult conditions," said Mair. Unlike the Salzburg IS returnee Maria G., her client was continuously housed in the part of the camp "where no radical women live," assured the defense attorney. Evelyn T. was always striving to return to Austria with her child. Therefore, consular protection was requested from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which related to the repatriation of mother and son from the camp.

Meeting in Vienna

In early 2015 - she was 16 years old at the time - Evelyn T. met the native Afghan Qais Z. in Vienna through mutual acquaintances. As stated in the indictment, she already harbored sympathies for the radical Islamic terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS) at that time. Qais Z. apparently shared this ideology in a pronounced form: after the couple entered into a marriage under Islamic law, the man traveled to Syria in April 2015 to join IS under the combat name Abu Luqman al-Afghani. He subsequently underwent combat training in Mosul, Iraq, and was then part of the "Battalion of Foreigners," which consisted of foreign fighters who fought on the side of IS in northern Syria. In September 2015, Abu Luqman al-Afghani was sent by IS to fight in Ramadi, Iraq.

According to the indictment, Evelyn T. first attempted to reach her husband via Turkey at the end of April 2015. However, she was prevented from continuing her journey at the airport in Istanbul and sent back to Vienna. In July of the same year, she used her sister's passport and flew again to Istanbul to reunite with her husband in Syria - but this did not work out because he informed her that he was to be relocated to Iraq. On September 17, Evelyn T. returned to Austria, was detained for two weeks - the authorities had become aware of the IS sympathizer's travel activities - and then resumed contact with her husband via messenger services. He returned to Syria in May 2016 and settled in the major city of Raqqa, which was considered the "capital of IS."

To live there with his wife, Luqman al-Afghani, who changed his combat name several times, obtained the consent of the Emir of the IS "Immigration Office," Abu Yahya Al-Rusi, and organized her journey. Evelyn T. reached Raqqa by traveling by train to Athens on June 19, taking a bus to the Turkish border, and being smuggled into Syria with around 40 other people who wanted to join IS. When she saw her husband again, he was recovering from a gunshot wound he had sustained in combat against the Syrian regime. As stated in the indictment, Evelyn T. cared for and supported her husband, took care of the household - the two had been assigned an apartment in Raqqa - and gave birth to a son on May 21, 2017.

Son at Vienna MA 11

On November 1, 2017, the couple surrendered to the allied forces of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) after they had dealt a severe defeat to ISIS. Evelyn T. will take responsibility for her activities in Syria and the incriminated psychological support of ISIS before a jury at the Gray House next week, her defense attorney announces, hoping for a fair trial. There are no indications in the file of any remaining radicalization of the accused, emphasizes Mair. Evelyn T. has already "docked" with the Extremism Counseling Center located at the nationwide network Open Youth Work (bOJA) and has completed initial appointments. In the event of a release from custody, there is a housing option, and supervision by the probation assistance association Neustart is guaranteed.

Above all, Evelyn T. wants to be reunited with her son, her legal representative reaffirms. He has been placed in a facility of the Vienna Child and Youth Welfare (MA 11) since March 1. The MA 11 has taken temporary custody.

Upon her arrival at Vienna-Schwechat Airport, Evelyn T. was arrested based on a warrant issued by the Vienna Public Prosecutor's Office and subsequently taken into pre-trial detention by the Regional Court for Criminal Matters. A complaint filed against this by her defense attorney was dismissed by the Vienna Higher Regional Court (OLG) a few days ago. The OLG continues to assume a risk of committing further offenses and a risk of flight. The 26-year-old will therefore remain in the Vienna-Josefstadt prison until her main trial date.

Incidentally, Evelyn T. no longer has contact with her husband. After his capture, he was transferred to Iraq and is said to have been sentenced to death there as a former ISIS fighter.

(APA/Red)

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