Two young Muslims who plotted a terrorist attack using explosives were both able to avoid prison as one was sentenced to house arrest and the other was allowed to go free.
The two Muslims, a man and a woman born in Italy with a Kosovar background, were convicted for plotting a terrorist attack in the name of the Islamic State terrorist group. They had reportedly planned to travel to Africa to join the group after the attack took place.
The two had become radicalised online according to investigators and after their arrest, investigators found not only computers and electronic devices but also chemicals needed to manufacture explosives, the newspaper Il Giornale reports.
The male Jihadi in the case is said to have been a technical chemical expert and therefore was able to procure the chemicals needed to create explosives.
The defence in the case argued that the prosecution’s evidence was circumstantial and that there was not adequate proof of the charges other than the man participating in online conversations. “Everything is based on the interpretation of conversations that have yet to be contextualized,” the defence said.
While the man was convicted by a judge at the Court of Rovereto, he was only sentenced to house arrest with an ankle monitor, while his partner was not kept in custody.
Alessia Ambrosi, regional councillor of the national-conservative Brother of Italy (FdI), slammed the judge’s ruling saying, “The first terrorist will serve his sentence under house arrest to allow him to carry out ‘a path of re-education’. The accomplice, on the other hand, is allowed to return to freedom, with the risk of rescheduling another attack.”
The threat of jihadist terrorism remains high in Italy, with a report earlier this year by the Dipartimento delle Informazioni per la Sicurezza (DIS) claiming that Italian Islamic State foreign fighters may return to Italy using illegal migrant routes and carry out possible attacks.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.