2 convicted of al-Qaida membership in Germany
Jan 25, 2013, 12:11 PM
BERLIN (AP) – A German and an Austrian have been convicted of membership in al-Qaida and sentenced to several years in prison.
Yusuf Ocak, 27, from Luebeck, Germany, was also convicted of being a founding member of the German Taliban Mujahideen and was sentenced to 9 years in prison. Maqsood Lodin, 23, an Austrian of Afghan background, was sentenced to 6 years 9 months.
Both can appeal.
The pair met in July 2010 in Pakistan’s Waziristan region and were assigned by al-Qaida to collect money and recruit members for the terrorist group in Europe upon returning there in the spring of 2011. Ocak also posted a threat video on the internet in 2009.
Ocak was arrested in Vienna and Lodin in Berlin in 2011. Neither defendant made statements during the trial.
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