Belgian court gives top jihadist recruiter harsher sentence on appeal
BRUSSELS: A Belgian appeals court on Thursday increased top jihadist recruiter Khalid Zerkani’s sentence to 15 years in prison for enlisting dozens of people, including key suspects in the Brussels and Paris attacks.
He is “the biggest recruiter of jihadists Belgium has ever known,” federal prosecutor Bernard Michel had said during a court hearing in February.
Moroccan-born Zerkani, 42, who has denied all charges, was originally sentenced in July 2015 to 12 years behind bars, but appealed. The higher court however chose to increase his sentence to the maximum 15-year term. His ‘attitude of obvious denial’ showed that he had not changed his stance in the least, the appeal court said.
Zerkani, also known under the nom de guerre Abu Riad, wasn’t present to hear the appeal court decision. Emerging as a central figure in the jihadist super-cell behind the attacks in both Brussels and Paris, the bearded, balding and pot-bellied jihad recruiter’s influence was crucial to a vast terror network.
‘Zerkani perverted a whole generation,’ particularly in the troubled Brussels neighbourhood of Molenbeek, prosecutor Michel told a courtroom in February, when Zerkani and 31 others were sentenced for their ties to terrorism inspired by the Islamic State group.
“He was active in recruiting, logistics, financial help and even in prison, he encouraged other inmates to take up the jihad banner,” Michel had said.
Zerkani’s original conviction happened before the IS bombings last month at Brussels airport and a metro station in the city, in which 32 people were killed, and the attacks in Paris last November when a total of 130 people died. — AFP