A woman from Brussels that left Belgium to join the terrorist group IS arrived back here last week from Turkey. The daily ‘De Standaard’ reports that on her arrival she was immediately detain. This has been confirmed by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.
In 2017 31-year-old Fatima C was sentenced by the Francophone Criminal Court in Brussels to 5 years’ imprisonment after she was found guilty of membership of a terrorist organisation.
In 2013, under the influence of the Muslim convert Jean-Louis Denis alias Jean-Louis Le Soumis, she and her family left for Syria. She was then 18 years old. Fatima C’s mother, father, brother and sister went with her to Syria.
Her 16-year-old sister was married out to a local Emir. When she was heavily pregnant the younger sister returned to Belgium with her mother. However, once she had given birth they made plans to return to Syria. Just as they were about to leave they were detained by the police in January 2016.
Several members of the family were given prison sentences in 2017. Fatima C. was still in Syria and was sentenced in her absence.
Last weekend she returned to Belgium and was arrested on her arrival. Little is known about the circumstances of her return nor about the fate of her family members that were still in Syria.