Kosovar court sentences Albanian for raising IS flag in Pristina
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 3 July 2017 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Kosovar court sentences Albanian for raising IS flag in Pristina, 3 July 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/59818e2813.html [accessed 5 June 2023] |
| Comments | All reference to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
July 03, 2017 14:28 GMT
By RFE/RL's Balkan Service
A Kosovo court has sentenced an Albanian citizen to 180 hours of community labor for raising a flag of the Islamic State (IS) extremist group at a crossroads in Pristina.
Court records identified the man as Q.M. and said he was arrested in September when he and two minors raised the IS flag on a street in Kosovo's capital.
The court said the action was the equivalent of "a public call or urging others to go to Syria and Iraq and join a terrorist organization."
About 300 Kosovars reportedly have joined IS fighters in Syria and Iraq, most of them between 2013 and 2014.
Authorities in Pristina say more than 100 Kosovars who traveled to Iraq or Syria to join IS have returned to Kosovo.
They say about 70 are still active with the extremist group in Syria and Iraq.
With reporting by AP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
