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Jailed on terror charges

February 6, 2012

Two German men have been jailed by a court in Britain after pleading guilty to terror charges. The men admitted to possessing information useful for terrorist acts, including the Al-Qaeda magazine Inspire.

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The Old Bailey
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

A British court jailed two German men on Monday after they pleaded guilty to possessing material useful to someone preparing an act of terrorism.

Islamic converts Christian E., 28, and Robert B., 24, from Solingen in western Germany, were arrested in the southern English port town of Dover in July last year as they tried to enter the UK. Police seized a hard drive and a laptop from the men containing material linked to the Islamist terrorism organization, al-Qaeda.

Christian E. admitted to four offences under Britain's Terrorism Act for possessing online copies of the Al-Qaeda magazine "Inspire" which contained titles such as 'Destroying Buildings' and 'Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom'. Robert B. admitted one charge under the same act for having an article entitled '39 Ways of Participating or Serving In Jihad.'

Judge Peter Rook at London's central criminal court, the Old Bailey, said the material made for "chilling reading" as he handed Christian E. a 16-month jail term, minus the 193 days he had already spent in custody. Robert B. received a 12-month sentence.

During their trial the men's lawyers argued that although Christian E. had been studying extremism, he was not a terrorist. He was also not going to pass the documents on to anyone. Robert B., meanwhile, claimed he had been studying Islam while searching for a purpose in life.

ccp/msh (AFP, AP, dpa)

Editor's note: Deutsche Welle is bound by German law and the German press code, which stresses the importance of protecting the privacy of suspected criminals or victims and obliges us to refrain from revealing full names in such cases.