Dutch woman ‘jihadist’ suspect seeks acquittal

THE HAGUE: A young Dutch woman, who travelled to Syria to join Islamic State with her partner and two children, asked to be acquitted of terrorism charges, saying she had played no role in the group.

The 21-year-old, a convert to Islam known only as Laura H, was arrested when she flew back to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport in July 2016 after apparently fleeing the jihadists.

She has been charged with taking part in a terrorist organisation and preparing terror attacks, the Dutch news agency ANP said.

Originally from the town of Leidschendam, she says she was forced to travel to Raqa, in Syria, in September 2015 by her violent partner.

Months later though she fled with her children to a Kurdishcontrolled area in Iraq with the help of her father in The Netherlands.

Laura H did not know when she left the country that they were heading for a war zone and played no role in the group during her time in Raqa, an IS stronghold, her lawyer Michiel Pestman told her trial Friday, according to ANP.

But prosecutors believe she was sent back with mission, and that she left for the war zone ‘intentionally’ and after ‘proper reflection’ as well as with “full knowledge of the cause,” ANP said.

On Thursday, the prosecution called for a 35-month jail term for Laura H with 24 months suspended under strict conditions, spokesman for the prosecution service Wim de Bruin confirmed to AFP.

Such a sentence would mean she would spend no time in jail, as she has already served 11 months.

She was only freed from custody in August ahead of the trial, but has since been ordered to wear an ankle bracelet.

Laura H met her partner, known as Ibrahim I, via the internet in 2013, when she was just 17 but had already converted to Islam, the public broadcaster NOS said. — AFP