Two men, one in the United Kingdom and one in Australia, have been sentenced to prison in separate cases for traveling or attempting to travel to Syria to fight with extremist groups, authorities announced this week.
In London, Isa Giga, 32, of Hounslow, west London, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on October 17 to nine years in prison after being convicted of preparing for acts of terrorism under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.
According to the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, Giga flew from Heathrow to Istanbul in September 2015 before taking a connecting flight to southern Turkey, where he crossed into Syria to join Jaysh al-Fath, an alliance of Islamist armed factions that included an al-Qaeda-affiliated group.
Investigators said evidence collected from emails, social media, and bank transactions showed Giga had traveled to Syria to “fight for jihad.” In messages to an undercover officer, he reportedly expressed support for Nusra, part of the Jaysh al-Fath coalition, and spoke of seeking “martyrdom very soon in the first row.”
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said the case demonstrates that anyone returning to the UK after fighting for a terrorist organization “will be thoroughly investigated, no matter how long it has been since they left the country.”
“A Terrorism Act conviction will also be followed by strict notification requirements, ensuring we can monitor offenders closely, even after they are released from prison,” Murphy added.
35-year-old Brisbane man was sentenced to six years
Meanwhile, in Australia, an unnamed 35-year-old Brisbane man was sentenced to six years' imprisonment by the Queensland Supreme Court on October 28, for preparing to enter Syria to engage in hostile activities. He will serve a minimum non-parole period of four years and six months.
The Queensland Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT), which is comprised of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Queensland Police Service (QPS), and Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), found that between July 2016 and February 2017, the man carried out extensive preparations to join armed groups fighting to overthrow the Assad regime.
Investigators said he applied for an Australian passport and researched flights from Brisbane to Türkiye, intending to cross illegally into Syria. Search warrants executed at his Kuraby home in 2018 uncovered materials related to extremist activities, including guides on guerrilla warfare and explosives, as well as al-Qaeda propaganda.
He was arrested in June 2018 and later pleaded guilty to three counts of making preparations for incursions into foreign countries for hostile activities, under Section 119.4 of the Criminal Code 1995 (Cth).
AFP Assistant Commissioner Stephen Nutt said the case underscores the agency’s determination to target violent extremism both domestically and abroad. “We denounce violence in all its forms, and our investigators pursue matters tenaciously to ensure people who wish to commit acts of violent extremism here or overseas are put before the courts,” he said.
QPS Assistant Commissioner Charysse Pond praised the coordinated effort, describing the case as “a credit to the hard work and commitment of the Queensland Joint Counter Terrorism Team to keeping the community safe.”
Both cases highlight continuing international efforts to identify and prosecute individuals seeking to join terrorist groups in Syria, as Western security agencies maintain a focus on extremist networks operating across borders.