A court in Antwerp on
Wednesday sentenced Fouad Belkacem, the leader of a group that
sent jihadists to Syria, to 12 years in prison.
The court found a total of 45 members of the
Sharia4Belgium, an organization considered by the court as a
"terrorist group", guilty of terror-related charges.
The other 44 members were given sentences, some suspended,
ranging from three to 15 years.
Only eight group members were in court on Wednesday and
about ten of those who were tried in absentia are believed to be
dead.
Belkacem, 32, was the ideologist of the group considered as
the top recruiter of Belgian jihadists who left the country to
fight with militant groups including ISIS.
Sharia4Belgium is believed to have recruited, through
social networks and in Antwerp, dozens of youths to fight with
jihadist groups in Syria between 2010 and 2012.
The investigation kicked off in February 2012 and the trial
started in September.
Roughly 350 Belgians are believed to have left the country
to fight in Syria and Iraq with security officials estimating
that 10% were linked to Sharia4Belgium.
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