Belgium Sentences 12 Chechens to Prison Terms for Foreign Fighters' Recruitment

A criminal court in the Belgian city of Brugge sentenced 12 people from the country’s Chechen community to terms in jail ranging from 15 months to 10 years for recruiting jihadists for Syria, media reported Friday.

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) — According to the RTL TV channel, two leaders of the group from the Belgian city of Ostende were sentenced to eight and 10-year prison sentence, respectively.

Following the November 2015 terror attacks by Daesh in Paris, Belgian police carried out a series of anti-terrorist operations and raids, later increasing the anti-terrorism threat level to the maximum after officers detained a number of people suspected of links to the attacks in Paris.