Two Tunisian sisters jailed for planning to join the Islamic State terrorist group

The Court of First Instance in Tunis has sentenced two sisters to two years in jail for planning to join ISIS and travel to Syria in an attempt to join terrorist organizations there.

It accused them of adopting takfiri ideology and downloading videos that support terrorist acts carried out by ISIS and inciting Tunisian youths to head to Syria to assist terrorist elements there and support their terrorist activities.

According to the probe, the defendants praised on social media terrorist acts carried out by the radical Okba Ibn Nafaa brigade, in reference to the attacks on security and military elements and state civil organs.

During the judicial hearing, the two defendants denied contents of the case file and their lawyer asserted that they did not adopt extremist ideas, demanding their release.

The examining magistrate played the video during which they were praising acts carried out by ISIS and Okba Ibn Nafaa brigade.

The two sisters insisted on denying the charges, yet the judge sentenced them to two years in prison, after confirming the conviction.

It is noteworthy that during the period between 2011 and 20013, many Tunisian youth groups expressed their “amazement” with extremist ideas, and dozens have joined terrorist organizations in Syria, Libya, and Iraq.

Local and international human rights organizations have estimated that thousands have joined these groups, but Tunisian official agencies have confirmed that only about 3,000 Tunisians have joined the fighting fronts.

They pointed out that some 1,000 terrorists have returned to the country after spending years in hotbeds of tension abroad.

According to statistics by the Tunisian Counter-Terrorism Committee, the Syrian front attracts about 70 percent of the Tunisian terrorists who have joined the terrorist organizations abroad.

Meanwhile, about 20 percent went to neighboring Libya, and the rest went to Iraq, Mali, and other hotbeds of tension.

Source: Aawsat