Hungarian authorities detained Syrian Islamic State member accused of killings

Hungarian authorities detained a Syrian man on Friday accused of taking part in beheadings in Syria as a member of Islamic State, Budapest prosecutors and the European judicial co-operation agency Eurojust said.

The 27-year-old man, identified by Hungarian authorities as F. Hassan, is suspected of executing about 20 people in 2016, all family members of a person in Homs city who refused to join Islamic State, Hungarian prosecutors said.

“In a rapid intervention, coordinated by Eurojust, the Hungarian authorities have arrested a high-profile target suspected of committing terrorist activities in Syria, linked to the so-called Islamic State,” Eurojust said in a statement.

The suspect had refugee status in Greece, it said.

He was caught with forged documents in Budapest’s main airport on Dec. 30 last year, given a suspended prison sentence for human trafficking and other crimes, and ordered expelled from Hungary, Hungarian authorities said.

Prior to his arrival in Hungary, the suspect had visited a number of other European countries, Hungary’s Counter Terrorism Centre said.

Source: Reuters