News item | 22-03-2024 | 18:22
The Public Prosecution Service is demanding a 6-year prison sentence against an IS refugee who was brought back by the Netherlands for the war crime of plunder and participation in IS. The indictment against the 36-year-old woman also states that she endangered her young children by taking them to a war zone. Moreover, the Public Prosecution Service accuses her of preparing terrorist crimes.
The case was heard on Friday by the District Court of The Hague, which has jurisdiction for international crimes, including war crimes.
The woman left for Syria in 2014 shortly after the caliphate was proclaimed with her two toddlers, aged 4 and 5, and pregnant with her third child. They became members of IS there. “An organization responsible for atrocities that we have rarely seen in modern history,” said the prosecutors of the National Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“IS is responsible for terrible attacks in the West, but especially for sowing death and destruction among people who had the misfortune to live in Syria or Iraq when IS came to power there.” According to the Public Prosecution Service, the woman contributed to this by traveling to the caliphate and supporting her husband who fought for IS.
The evidence in her case largely consists of chats on WhatsApp and Telegram and photos and audio messages. The woman previously stated to the police and at the court hearing on Friday that she had been manipulated by her husband, as a result of which she gave in and went with him to Syria.
Plundering
In Syria, the woman was responsible for the household and caring for her children. She and her family lived off the money they received from IS. The family lived in Raqqa province in several houses provided by IS. It was free living, you did not have to pay for rent, electricity and water. The Public Prosecution Service blames the woman heavily for being guilty of plunder by occupying the homes of IS victims – non-believers. The owners had probably fled or been killed. The prosecutors explicitly reflected on the pain and sorrow of the people who had to leave their home and hearth behind. “The looting was also a very painful and deeply confrontational form of terrorist rule.”
By traveling to dangerous IS territory, she left her children in a helpless state. It can be concluded from chats that in the first months in Syria the children cried that they wanted to return to the Netherlands. “They have also been exposed to extreme violence, such as bombings that woke them up at night and forced them to dress at night in case they had to flee. On February 1, 2019, they were buried under the rubble due to a bombardment.” The woman denied her children a carefree childhood and allowed them to grow up in appalling conditions, the Public Prosecution Service said.
“Cubs of the Caliphate”
According to prosecutors, the children were also frequently exposed to IS propaganda and also went to school in IS areas. A photo of the youngest child is included in the criminal file, showing the 5-year-old dressed in a military uniform and lying in a shooting position with an object that resembles a firearm. “It makes one think that this fits exactly with the way in which IS has indoctrinated, recruited and trained minors in Syria and Iraq,” the prosecutors told the court. The boy was wearing a military uniform that looked exactly like the uniform of “the cubs of the caliphate”.
After the fall of the caliphate in 2019, the woman eventually ended up in the Kurdish refugee camp Al Roj. She and her four children were picked up by the Netherlands in November 2022. Her husband was killed in Syria. In determining the amount of the sentence, the Public Prosecution Service took into account that the woman grew up in an unsafe home situation and has suffered from psychological problems since a young age. According to the Public Prosecution Service, she can be seen as a vulnerable and easily influenced young woman. The Public Prosecution Service also moderated the sentence due to the woman’s stay in refugee camps.
The court will make its ruling on April 26.