Updated 16.25 | Published 16.17
Two brothers from Syria have been sentenced in Germany for having planned terrorist crimes in Sweden. According to the prosecutors, they planned a bombing against a church in Sweden.
Two brothers from Syria have been sentenced in Germany for having planned terrorist crimes in Sweden. According to the prosecutors, they planned a bombing against a church.
The two were sentenced in Hamburg, where the 29-year-old brother lives. He is sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for having planned an Islamist-motivated bomb attack against a church in Sweden and for having financed terrorism.
According to the German radio channel NDR, he had admitted during the trial that he had planned an attack in the country in a fit of emotion after the repeated Koran burnings in Sweden.
Arrested last spring
The five-year-younger brother is sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence for aiding and abetting terrorist financing. He claimed in court that he did not know about the plans for an explosion, which the court did not believe. As the brothers reportedly had very little contact, however, he is not believed to have known all the details or that a church was the designated target.
The prosecutors had asked for a slightly higher sentence, among other things because the older defendants had “aim to kill and injure a large number of people”.
The men were arrested in separate raids in Hamburg and Kempten in the state of Bavaria at the end of April and May, respectively, and have been in custody since then.
Connection to IS
During the crackdown on the older brother’s residence in Hamburg, the police found two kilograms of urea fertilizer and citric acid, components that can be used to make an explosive charge. He had ordered and was awaiting delivery of additional chemicals.
The younger brother is accused of agreeing to participate in the attack on behalf of IS and of helping his brother procure the explosives.
The investigators have gone through emails and chats between the brothers and were able to see that the attack plans concerned a Swedish church. However, there should be neither a specifically designated church nor information about the time.
The brothers are said to have lived in Germany since 2015 and are said to have no criminal past.