Advertisement

Top lawyers probing 200 German Syria fighters

DPA/The Local
DPA/The Local - [email protected]
Top lawyers probing 200 German Syria fighters
Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in northern Iraq. Germany has been supplying the Kurds with weapons and training to fight Isis. Photo: DPA

Germany's chief prosecutor is investigating around 200 people who have travelled to Syria to fight in the civil war there, the Justice Minister confirmed on Wednesday.

Advertisement

"The chief prosecutor currently has 135 cases open with around 200 suspects in connection with the civil war in Syria," Justice Minister Heiko Maas told Bild.

"Across the country, there are roughly twice as many cases open.

"That shows: in Germany we have an especially tough terrorism law, which we will apply harshly. There is no tolerance for radical terrorists," Maas said.

Experts warned in the wake of the Paris attacks that Germany would also be targeted by terrorists linked to Isis, the Islamic fundamentalist group occupying large swathes of Iraq and Syria.

"I'm convinced that Germany is just as much in the sights of the terrorists [as France], one leading MP told The Local at the time.

Germany's security services believe that around 750 people have travelled from the Federal Republic to Iraq and Syria to join the jihadi movement.

Around one-third of those – 250 people – have returned to Germany, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (VS) reported earlier this year.

SEE ALSO: German Syria mission gets go-ahead from MPs

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also