Austrian court jails Chechen for joining jihadis in Syria
VIENNA - An Austrian court sentenced a Chechen to five years in jail on terror charges after he travelled to Syria in 2013, the latest and one of the toughest verdicts in a string of Islamic State-related cases in Austria.
The 30-year-old Chechen, identified as Magomed Z., was convicted of participating in terrorism and possessing child pornography but acquitted of receiving combat training in Syria. He had faced up to 10 years in prison on the terrorism charge alone.
The Chechen had pleaded not guilty to all charges, saying he had gone to Syria only to help refugees and to search for the son of a relative.
Both the prosecutors and Magomed Z. will appeal the sentence, a spokesman for the court in the Austrian town of Krems said.
