23-year-old sentenced to fine in Berlin for IS propaganda

A 23-year-old was sentenced to a fine of 1,650 euros for spreading radical Islamist propaganda. The defendant has on his publicly visible social media account published three videosthe material from the official media propaganda office Terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) Includes, known, the Berlin district court. The verdict is not yet final.

The former student pilot was reportedly found guilty of distributing propaganda from unconstitutional and terrorist organizations. In one case there was a call to go to war against “infidels,” the ruling said. In another page, IS has been glorified. “The defendant knew exactly what this was, he looked for it and he spread this idea.”

The 23-year-old admitted the videos with religious chants between October 2022 and May 2023 to have published. “However, he didn’t want to spread hate,” he explained.

Because he didn’t speak standard Arabic, he couldn’t understand the content of the songs – “I was interested in the sound, it sounded nice,” said the defendant from Berlin-Reinickendorf. He is a devout Muslim, “but not radical.”

“I wanted to get a pilot’s license and become a pilot”

According to investigations, the 23-year-old had at least 133 followers. During a search, additional ISIS videos were found in a file on his computer, the trial said. The defendant explained that he simply wanted to find out more about the Islamic State. Because of the procedure, he was not allowed to continue the training he had begun at a private flying school – “I wanted to get a pilot’s license and become a pilot.”

With the penalty imposed of 110 daily rates of 15 euros each, the court fell just short of the public prosecutor’s request, which had demanded 120 daily rates. The defense attorney for the man, who had no previous conviction, pleaded for acquittal. (dpa)