A suspected ISIS recruit accused of trying to plot a terrorist attack has been released because the court reportedly had to deal with a backlog of cases, according to German newspaper reports.
A 32-year-old Syrian man had been in jail since being arrested two years ago for trying to fly from Germany to Turkey to join ISIS in Syria, the Independent reports.
He was charged with “serious subversive violence” by state prosecutors in April, but due to the courts being overloaded with cases, the man has been released, with the order that he reports back to the police station three times a week.
A court spokesperson said that, “the court is doing other things at the moment,” and rejected the explanation that the court was too busy, stating that it was unfair to hold him in detention without a trial for so long.
As in other European countries, Germany has been targeted for recruitment by ISIS, which is looking to draw recruits both from the Syrian refugees streaming into the country and native Germans, the Spiegel reports.
More than 800 residents in Germany have left to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq, with 60 percent of them being German citizens, DW reports. Approximately 130 of them have died, some of them as suicide bombers.
Although prosecutors are angry with the court’s decision to release the man, they admit that the man has so far been regularly visiting the police office as ordered.
