Verdict in first German IS trial

A German court in the western city of Frankfurt on Friday sentenced a 20-year-old man to three years and nine months in prison in what was the first-ever German trial of an alleged "Islamic State" (IS) fighter.

The man received a reduced penalty under a plea bargain that entailed his giving details of his time training and fighting with the jihadi group in Syria. The Frankfurt court applied juvenile sentencing laws because the man cooperated with authorities. The German legal system allows courts to try people up to the age of 21 under juvenile law.

The prosecution had asked for a sentence of four years and three months.

The German-born Kreshnik B., whose family originally came from Kosovo, was found guilty on the charges of being a member of a terrorist group. His full name has been withheld under German privacy guidelines.

Prosecutors said B. traveled to Syria via Istanbul in July 2013 to join the jihadi group, which is fighting to create an Islamic state in the region. He was then said to have received military training from IS, before serving both in the group's cleaning and guard units, and in three of its combat operations.

B. has been held in police custody since being arrested at Frankfurt Airport upon his return to Germany in December 2013.

He has denied ever shooting at another person during the fighting.

International fears

The trial opened in September, and came on the heels of a decision by German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere to ban all activites of IS in Germany

IS, which started out as a splinter group of terrorist organization al Qaeda, has been blamed for numerous atrocities committed during its advance across wide areas of Syria and neighboring Iraq.

The group's seizure of large swathes of territory in both countries has caused international alarm, amid fears that IS could extend its dominance into other regions in the Middle East.

tj/ksb (dpa, AFP)