Born: 1992;

Place of Birth: Australia;

Gender: Male;

Nationality: Australian;

General Info:
Belal Betka is a Sydney man who says he travelled to war-torn Syria to join Islamic State for humanitarian reasons has been jailed for at least two years and nine months.

He pleaded guilty to engaging in hostile activity in a foreign country but claimed the trip he took with his then-wife was honourable. The 27-year-old was arrested at his Sydney home in December 2017 after police alleged he travelled to Syria between March and July 2015.

Terror Activities:
During a sentencing hearing in December, he said he left after being told he had to fight for the Islamic State and because its members were mistreating civilians.

Betka allegedly spoke about the strengths of an AK-47 machine gun, said he’d “smelled death” and claimed Muslim fighters who died were 10 times better than the living.

The Crown unsuccessfully contended that a USB flash drive containing jihadi videos which was found in Betka’s bedroom showed he was a risk to the Australian community.

Betka’s excursion was neither impulsive nor opportunistic, the judge said, but he’d been “beguiled by slick advertising” and had no intention of being actively involved in the fighting.

He sentenced Betka to three years and eight months in jail with a non-parole period of two years and nine months. Betka is currently serving a unrelated sentence for money laundering and will be eligible for release in December 2021.