ISIS Widow Stripped of Belgian Citizenship After Syria Return

In November 2019, Rahma B. had managed to escape from a Kurdish prisoner camp in northern Syria, had surrendered to the Turkish authorities before being sent back to Belgium, reports Belga. She arrives at Zaventem airport on November 29. She will be immediately transferred to the infirmary of the Bruges prison. Injured by shrapnel in Syria, she is obliged to always move around with crutches, specifies the same source. Her two husbands and her three children had perished in the attack.

In June 2019, the young woman was convicted in absentia for participation in the activities of a terrorist group. "I realize that what I have been through is my fault. This radical ideology, which has only caused problems, is now out of my mind," she assured the court after her return to Belgium.

A statement that is far from convincing the public prosecutor’s office, which has also described her profile as "worrying". According to the federal magistrate, Rahma B. had undergone explosives handling training and was a member of an Islamic State (IS) women’s battalion. All things that the defense disputes.

On Friday, the verdict was handed down: the Antwerp Criminal Court sentenced the young woman to five years in prison and a fine of 8,000 euros for her participation in the activities of a terrorist group. She also loses her Belgian nationality.