A court in Pristina on Thursday remanded one of the suspects in custody after both were arrested the previous day on suspicion of having links with terrorist organisations and providing financial support to terrorists from Kosovo to fight in Syria and Iraq.
The remanded suspect was arrested in a raid by police and the tax administration in the town of Ferizaj. Police identified him only by the initials F.R.
“The suspect F.R. has been under criminal investigation since 2014 for having been in contact with organised groups in Kosovo which have been involved in organising and participation in terrorist organisations,” a police statement said.
The police said that F.R. used his businesses in Ferizaj, Pristina and Peja/Pec to provide financial and logistical support to people involved in recruiting for terrorist organisations or being part of them.
He also supported individuals engaged in promoting extremist ideologies in Kosovo, they said.
“Some of these people, previously employed in his businesses, have been killed in the conflict zone,” the police statement said.
Police seized documents and electronic devices which they said could provide additional evidence.
The second suspect, identified only by the initials P.D., was arrested in the town of Prizren. Police said that on at least one occasion, he paid for two people to join a terrorist group fighting overseas.
Police said that two people he funded were detained while trying to go abroad to fight.
“The two were stopped by the Anti-Terror Directorate in December 2015 while they were trying to travel towards the conflict zone,” a police statement said.
It was unclear on Friday morning whether P.D. had been remanded in custody or was being investigated under a control order in relation to any suspected involvement in other cases.
According to the interior ministry, around 300 Kosovo Albanians have joined ISIS and another militant group, Al Nusra, in the conflicts in Syria and Iraq since 2013, and up to 70 are still fighting there.
/257
18 March 2016 - 12:14
News ID: 741854
A court in Pristina on Thursday remanded one of the suspects in custody after both were arrested the previous day on suspicion of having links with terrorist organisations and providing financial support to terrorists from Kosovo to fight in Syria and Iraq.
