Syrian refugee on trial accused of scouting Berlin locations for Isis to attack
The 19-year-old allegedly fought for the terror group in Syria before being deployed to Germany.
A 19-year-old Syrian man will stand trial today (4 January) accused of scoping out targets in Berlin for attacks by the Islamic State (Isis/Daesh) terror group.
The defendant, who has been named only as Shaas Al-M, allegedly fought for the group in Syria before arriving in Germany as an asylum seeker in August, 2015.
Among the potential targets he is accused of gathering information on are the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag.
The trial is significant as it is the first of a militant allegedly directly deployed to Germany by IS. He has been in pre-trial detention since his arrest in March.
He will stand trial in a special state security court in Berlin charged with membership of a foreign terrorist organisation, which carries a sentence of up to 10 years, and military weapons law violations.
It comes after Tunisian failed asylum seeker Anis Amri allegedly killed 12 people when he drove a truck into crowds at a Christmas market on 19 December.
In a video released by IS after Amri was shot dead by Italian police, he pledges allegiance to the group.
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