Tunisian sentenced to one year in prison for pledging allegiance to the Islamic State

A court in Tunis sentenced a Tunisian man to a one-year prison after being accused of pledging allegiance to the terrorist organization ISIS and planning attacks inside Tunisia.

Investigations confirmed that the defendant, who is in his 30s, intentionally downloaded a video from the websites affiliated with terrorist organizations. He urged Tunisian youths to travel to Libya and Syria, join ISIS and carry out attacks around the world, notably Tunisia.

Upon his appearance before the judicial authorities, the defendant confessed to the charges against him, but he denied adopting extremist ideology and contacting ISIS leaders.

A number of extremist groups experts, including Alia al-Alani, Faisal al-Sherif and Badra Gaaloul, confirmed that the security services are facing difficulties in cracking down on terrorists because they are often acting on their own.

In this regard, Alani said that the counter-terrorism agencies are required to update their records of suspects and add the names of people suspected or proven to have pledged allegiance to terrorist organizations.

The agencies need to adopt more sophisticated strategies in wake of the various terrorist attacks and stabbing incidents that have taken place against security and military personnel in Tunisia.

It has become necessary to monitor the suspects and uncover their plans during their early stages, before they are lured into joining ISIS and in executing their plots.

Source: Aawsat