Belgian court jails jihadist recruiter for 12 years

(ANSA) - Brussels, February 11 - 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.