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Trial at the OLG Frankfurt against Nadja R. (2023)

The 5th Criminal Division of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt am Main held proceedings from September 8, 2023, to January 24, 2024, against the defendant Nadja R.
She was charged with three counts of membership in a foreign terrorist organization, in two cases concurrently with war crimes against property.

The defendant traveled from Germany to Syria in the summer of 2014, where she joined the terrorist organization “Islamic State” (IS). Shortly after her arrival, she married the separately prosecuted Cem K. under Islamic rites and lived with him in a marriage shaped according to IS ideology. She took over household duties to enable her husband’s participation in combat operations and later his work in an IS communications office.

In August 2014, the defendant addressed marriage-seeking women via a Facebook post, offering support for traveling to IS territory. From May 2015 to January 2017, the couple lived in two houses in the Iraqi city of Tal Afar that had been assigned to them by IS. The rightful occupants had fled in advance of advancing IS forces.

In June 2017, Nadja R. was captured by Kurdish forces and placed in a detention camp. On October 5, 2022, she was repatriated to Germany, where she was arrested upon arrival at Frankfurt am Main Airport on October 6, 2022.

On January 24, 2024, the Higher Regional Court Frankfurt sentenced the defendant to a total prison term of three years and three months.
In determining the sentence, the court took into significant account the defendant’s full and candid confession. Additional mitigating factors included her lack of prior convictions, the time that had passed between the end of the offenses and the sentencing, and her prolonged stay in the detention camp.

As both parties waived the right to appeal, the verdict is legally binding.

The trial was observed by the Trial Monitoring observers.
The publication of weekly reports will follow.