On January 23, the Federal Court of Justice in Germany announced charges against three Syrians for membership in the Liwa al-Tawhid faction.
The court said in a statement that the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office directed, on December 28, 2023, charges against three Syrian citizens before the State Security Council of the Supreme Court in Berlin.
The statement named the accused as “Muhamad R., Anas K., and Youssef K.,” who were active members of a foreign “terrorist” organization, as described in association with Article 129 of the German Criminal Code.
“Liwa al-Tawhid is an Islamic armed group that operated in Aleppo province between 2012 and 2014, consisting of roughly ten thousand fighters, aiming to fight the Syrian regime and establish a religious state based on Islamic Sharia,” according to the statement’s definition.
The statement added that to achieve its goals, Liwa al-Tawhid cooperated with other foreign “terrorist” groups and organizations in the region, especially “al-Nusra Front” and “Ahrar al-Sham Movement”.
The accused
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office leveled its charges against the founder of Liwa al-Tawhid (Muhamad R) for leading combat missions and seizing Aleppo, and the group’s spokesperson (Anas K.) for his participation in “publicly propagandizing for the group” by writing articles about its activities.
The last charge was directed at (Youssef K.) for working in the media sector and regularly accompanying (Anas K.) to combat zones, and preparing reports, films, and photographs for “propaganda purposes.”
The statement noted that the accused are still at large.
Liwa al-Tawhid was formed from the unification of several battalions belonging to the Free Syrian Army on July 18, 2012, and fought against the Syrian regime forces in Aleppo province, under the leadership of Abdel Qader al-Saleh.
The group controlled about 70% of Aleppo city before it was retaken by the regime with Russian intervention.
Terrorism in Germany
On June 20, 2023, the German Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, along with the President of the Federal Parliament, Thomas Haldenwang, presented the annual report for 2022 on “Constitutional Protection of the Public” to contribute to “raising awareness about the level of threat facing the state and German society.”
The report included more than 20 Islamic organizations classified as terrorist in Germany, among them the “Islamic State,” “Al-Qaeda” in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, “Hezbollah,” “Muslim Brotherhood,” and others, mentioning the number of each in Germany.
It also covered non-Islamic organizations such as the “Kurdistan Workers’ Party” (PKK), and extreme left-wing and right-wing Turkish organizations.
As observed by Enab Baladi, the report did not explicitly mention “Liwa al-Tawhid,” but it did note the existence of 370 terrorists under the classification of “other terrorist organizations.”