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Trial at the OLG Frankfurt against Fatiha B. (2023)

 
From January 16, 2023, to March 24, 2023, the 8th Criminal Division of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt am Main conducted the trial against Fatiha B.

According to the indictment, the 29-year-old defendant, who holds both German and Moroccan citizenship, was accused of membership in two foreign terrorist organizations in Syria.

In 2013, while still a young adult, Fatiha B. reportedly traveled to Syria with her husband to join the group “Jabhat al-Nusra.” In the summer of 2014, she, her husband, and their newborn daughter attempted to leave Syria to return to Germany. However, the attempt failed, and the family returned to Syria, where they then joined the terrorist organization “Islamic State” (Da’esh).

During this time, Fatiha B. is said to have managed the household and cared for their children, thereby enabling her husband to actively participate in the activities of the terrorist organizations. She was also accused of violating her duty of care and upbringing by taking her minor daughter into Da’esh-controlled territory.

In 2019, she was taken into custody by Kurdish forces and held in various Kurdish-run camps until she was repatriated to Germany with her children on March 31, 2022, as part of a so-called repatriation operation organized by the German government.

On March 24, 2023, the 8th Criminal Division found Fatiha B. guilty on all counts after a total of 11 trial days and sentenced her to a total prison term of two years, which was suspended on probation. The verdict was largely based on the defendant’s confession.

The trial was continuously observed by Trial Monitoring observers.
The weekly reports will be published once the judgment is final.