Dutch prosecutors seek 8 years for Tajik man accused of recruiting for Islamic State

Dutch prosecutors have demanded an eight-year prison sentence for a 31-year-old man from Tajikistan accused of recruiting Dutch citizens and others in multiple countries to join Islamic State groups.

The man, identified as Abdusamad A., is alleged by the Public Prosecution Service to have been part of ISKP, the Afghan branch of Islamic State. He was arrested in Eindhoven following an intelligence report issued by the General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD). A. denied the accusations in court on Monday. “I have nothing to do with IS,” he told the judges.

Prosecutors said that during an undercover police operation, A. declared loyalty to Islamic State while speaking to a police informant. Confronted with this in court, he responded, “Maybe I did that. But then it was to make an impression. I felt that they liked this organization.”

He and his wife, who were living in the Netherlands since 2022, were both arrested in July 2023. The woman was acquitted last year. The couple has since divorced.

According to prosecutors, A. tried to travel to Syria in 2016 to join Islamic State. Turkish authorities arrested him and deported him to Ukraine. Prosecutors say he was involved with an Islamic State cell operating in Ukraine.

A.’s defense lawyer argued that the investigation yielded little evidence. “There is fairly little that has emerged from this large-scale investigation. Insufficient in any case to convict him of membership in a terrorist organization,” the lawyer said.