Belgian Woman Accepts 5-Year Sentence for Islamic State Involvement, Sister Appeals

28 December 2019 – byGinette · 2 min read

Fatima B., one of the two sisters convicted by a Belgian court, while they were in Syria, has decided not to appeal her conviction anymore. She accepts to serve five years in prison for participation in the activities of the terrorist group Islamic State, while her sister, Rahma B., convicted on the same charges, maintains her appeal which will be examined in March by the Antwerp Criminal Court.

It is on March 19 that the Antwerp Criminal Court will examine the appeal filed by Rahma B. regarding her conviction to the maximum sentence for activism within the terrorist group Islamic State. Injured in Syria by shrapnel, she had to be helped by two police officers when entering the courtroom on Thursday. The 31-year-old woman was keen to be present before her judges. "They received the maximum sentence without being able to contradict," had pointed out Maîtres Abderrahim Lahlali and Mohamed Ozdemir.

Since their return to Belgian soil, Rahma B. has been staying in the medical wing of the Bruges prison. Questioned twice by the federal police, her lawyer believes that these hearings did not reveal anything new, just like those to which her sister was subjected. The latter is followed by several services and accompanied by a consultant in Islam. Fatima B. knows that she made a mistake in joining a terrorist group, and is ready to do her best to reintegrate into society, reports 7sur7.be.

The defense of the two sisters believes that they have already paid a heavy price by escaping from Syria. Indeed, Rahma lost her three children and Fatima’s companion, who helped her flee the territories controlled by the Islamic State, was beheaded, the same source specifies.

Category: Belgium

Keywords:

Belgium Trial Prison Islamic State - ISIS