A radical Islamic preacher and founder of the “sharia police” in Germany faces charges of aiding terrorists.
Four months after his arrest, radical Islamic hate preacher, and “sharia police” founder, Sven Lau is being formally charged with aiding a terrorist group in Syria by supplying them with night-vision goggles that cost around 1,400 euros.
Lau is a German convert to Islam and follows the fundamentalist sect of Salafism which he shares with the likes of the Islamic state and Al Qaeda, reports The Local.
German prosecutors allege that Lau provided the night vision equipment to Syrian jihadist group JMA who are said to have direct ties to the Islamic State. A statement posted online from the German federal prosecution service in Karlsruhe said Jau was, “a point of contact for those willing to fight and travel abroad, especially from the Salafist scene in Dusseldorf metropolitan area.”
The statement says that JMA is an acronym that translates to the ‘Small Army of Emigrants and Helpers’ and was founded in March 2013. They say that the organization has been cooperating with ISIS since mid 2013 and after splitting up at the end of the year Lau changed his allegiance solely to the Islamic State.
Lau is said to have remained a contact for jihadi groups in Syria and acted as a link between German and Syrian jihadis, assisting Germans to go fight for JMA.
The information on Lau’s relationship with the organization comes from the arrest of two other German nationals who went to Syria to fight for the group. One of the fighters named Mustafa C. is currently in trial before the Higher Regional Court of Dusseldorf for his membership in the terrorist organization.
Lau became famous in Germany in 2014 when he founded the so called “sharia police” which involved Muslim men who tried to ban alcohol, gambling and anything else Islam considered haram or forbidden in their neighbourhood.
Breitbart London reported back in December when Lau was initially arrested on suspicion of supporting and recruiting for the Islamic state. The radical preacher has been in trouble with German law enforcement before over allegations that he participated in terrorist actions in Syria.
Lau told the German courts that he had been driving an ambulance on his multiple visits and had nothing to do with fighting, though he did not deny his support for the Islamic State. Due to a lack of evidence he was able to avoid a prison sentence in that case.