The criminal court of Mechelen convicted five men sentenced for spreading IS propaganda online
The criminal court of Mechelen convicted five men who were members of two Telegram groups for spreading terrorist propaganda, after the groups massively shared videos of beheadings and other content linked to the Islamic State (IS).
On May 30, 2024, Salah A. decided to create his own group called “The Islamic Emirates of the Scheldt Country”. He called himself the group’s “emir” and shared terrorist propaganda, including videos of executions. “The objective was clear: to install a Salafist society and use violence to impose its ideologies,” the federal prosecutor said.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the Telegram groups were linked to the Sharia4Belgium movement, a jihadist organisation recognised as terrorist by the Belgian courts. “They reorganised several times, creating a new group called ‘The Islamist Emirates of the Meuse Country’, but after each restructuring, these five people continued to be part of the group and to seek each other out.”
The reports of forensic experts indicate that there is an increased risk of violent recidivism among the five men. Two leaders were sentenced to seven years in prison, the others to sentences of up to four years.
