In 2015, a judge sentenced the six men in absentia for their participation in a terror organization called “Sharia4Belgium.”
Rabat – Belgium has decided to strip six Belgo-Moroccan fighters of their Belgian nationality for their involvement in the terror group Sharia4Belgium.
According to the Brussels Times the six suspects flew to Syria before a judge sentenced them in absentia for their participation in the terror organization in 2015.
The court was unable to inform the six men of their conviction due to their lack of a valid address in Belgium.
Two of the defendants, including Said El Morabit, are believed to be dead.
The news outlet added that Turkey is expected to transfer El Morabit’s wife and her sister-in law, along with six children to Belgium.
Federal prosecutor Frederic Van Leeuw said that there are 48 Belgians in conflict zones, including 25 women and 13 men in Syria.
In 2018, a court in Antwerp, Belgium, decided to strip a detained Moroccan imam, Fouad Belkacem, of his Belgian citizenship.
The Antwerp court’s decision came after Beligian security services determined that the leader of the Sharia4Belgium group had fallen seriously short of his duties as a Belgian citizen.
Belgium imprisoned Belkacem in 2013. In 2016, Belgium prosecuted him for using his group to send dozens of individuals to fight in Syria, most of whom allegedly joined ISIS.
Belkacem is facing a 12-year prison sentence and could be subject to deportation to Morocco. Previously a dual citizen, Belkacem retains his Moroccan nationality.
Belgium also stripped Malika el Aroud, also known as the black widow, of her Belgian citizenship in 2017.
El Aroud is the widow of a Taliban fighter Abdessatar Dahmane. She is labeled as “the most dangerous woman in Belgium.”
A Belgian court sentenced the “black widow” to eight years in prison for her involvement with terrorists.
