Ex-soldier who fought against IS faces terror trial
A FORMER British soldier who fought Islamic State in Syria will be charged with a terror offence in the first case of its kind.
James Matthews, 43, was arrested after returning to the UK from fighting alongside Kurdish militia forces.
He will appear in court next Wednesday to face a charge of attending a place used for terrorist training.
Matthews, who was in the Army for four years in the 1990s, will be the first Briton to be charged with travelling to Syria and volunteering for the People’s Protection Units (YPG) to fight IS militants.
The Kurdish group have been strong allies of the West in helping to defeat IS – but UK terrorism laws prohibit engaging in violence for a political or ideological cause.
The Government has long warned that fighting with any group could lead to legal consequences. It has said taking part in a conflict overseas, no matter what side the person is on, could be an offence under both criminal and terror laws.
However, it had been unclear how the actions of Britons fighting against IS would be treated by the justice system.
The Metropolitan Police said Matthews had been ‘requisitioned to appear’ in court on February 14 for an offence committed on or before February 15, 2016 – the month he returned to the UK. He is accused of ‘attending a place or places in Iraq and Syria where instruction or training was provided’ for terrorist purposes under the Terrorism Act 2006, the force said.
In March 2017 Matthews was a signatory to what was described as an ‘open letter from British YPG fighters’ posted on a Kurdish news website. The letter urged people not to give in to extremism of any kind following the attacks in Westminster, London Bridge and Manchester.
Matthews, originally from Stokeon-Trent, also appeared in a Channel 4 documentary called The Brits Battling ISIS about his fight against the jihadist group.
Explaining why he was inspired to join the YPG, he said: ‘What really jolted me was a photo I saw on Facebook of an [IS] fighter holding up the severed head of a woman. It seemed like one of the most single evil things I’ve ever seen and affected me quite a lot.’
Estimates suggest that dozens of Britons have fought in Syria as volunteers with the Kurds since 2015. In March 2015 Philip Hammond, then Foreign Secretary, warned that UK citizens who travel abroad to fight IS could face prosecution if they return.
He said: ‘Anyone conducting irregular fighting activity overseas is subject to British legislative sanction. That is unlawful activity and can be dealt with on their return to the UK.’
David Anderson QC, who was the Government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said at the time: ‘The definition of terrorism is broad and complicated. It doesn’t just catch people fighting for terrorist organisations. It could also catch people fighting against terrorist organisations.’