Italian Prosecutors Encounter Difficulties Arresting Terror Suspects

Prosecutors in Turin have spent a long time trying in vain to put behind bars five men suspected of setting up a Daesh cell in Italy, La Stampa reported.

In May, Turin prosecutors tried and failed to obtain a court warrant for the arrest of the suspected terrorists. They appealed, but it took the judge a whole six months to finally authorize the arrest of the terror suspects.

A few days ago the prosecutors obtained a court order to arrest the suspected men, but even now the wanted men walk free because Italian laws give them time to appeal the court order and it is now up to the Supreme Court to decide on their fate, La Stampa wrote.

The suspects, all Tunisian nationals, arrived in Italy in 2014 and obtained residence permits after they said they had enrolled in a local college. All  five persons, whose names are not mentioned, are suspected of having links to the Islamic State terrorist organization (Daesh).

Three of them are currently under house arrest on drug peddling charges. The rest remain at large even though one of them was previously deported from the country in 2016.

The whereabouts of two other members of the terrorist cell are unknown, but police believe they could have been killed while fighting as jihadist militants somewhere in the Middle East.

READ MORE: Sicily Police Arrest Recidivist Terrorist Arriving in Italy on Migrant Boat

According to Italian law, a suspect has 10 days to appeal an arrest warrant and if the Supreme Court takes up the appeal, the terrorist suspects will enjoy even more freedom.