Self-proclaimed imams arrested for recruiting fighters to Syria

They recruited Muslim devotees by sending them as members of war formations in Syria.

Foreign agencies have informed the Albanian Secret Service regarding these recruits. The Prosecution of Serious Crimes and the Secret Services have investigated the cellule they considered “terrorist”, and seven people were arrested this Tuesday morning in Tirana, Elbasan, Librazhd and Pogradec.

The Chief Prosecutor of Serious Crimes, Eugen Beci, declared that the arrest measure has been given for six other people. He added that in their residences they blocked religious books, identity cards, camouflage clothes and several agreements.

“All these people are accused of recruiting people for terrorist activities, for propaganda and encouraging the public for criminal acts with terrorist purposes, and for encouraging hate between nationalities, races and ethnic groups. Citizens Genci Balla and Bujar Hysa, who exerted illegal religious activity in the Tirana e Re and Mzez village, Tirana, have conducted active and illegal actions for indoctrinating people with radical ideologies and engage them in terrorist fights that have been sanctioned by the UN”, Beci declared.

The Police surveyed the imams of mosques, one of whom is the imam of the Unaza e Re, and the people who were being recruited. The Police blocked AK-47 and explosives in their homes. Police has entered the mosques, and this has caused reaction from devotees, who said that no weapons are allowed in mosques.

The investigations are trying to discover the recruiting methods and the itinerary that Albanians from Kosovo and Albania were following for joining the fundamentalist groups in Syria.

“Edmond Balla and Verdi morave have committed concrete actions for sending Albanian citizens to fight in Syria. Fadil Myslymani, Zeqir Imeri and Astrit Tola have helped the organizers in the recruit and have sent Albanian citizens in Syria. The State Police, based on the authorization of the Court of Serious Crimes, checked several premises in Tirana and Pogradec where these people worked. Security measures have been taken for six other people included in the same criminal activity”, Beci declared.

The procedure of how these recruits were taken to Syria is still part of the investigation secrecy. The war in Syria and the creation of fundamentalist fractions gathered Islamic extremists from around the world, including Albania and Kosovo. At least five Albanians have lost their lives in this war. To stop their engagement in this war, the governments of Kosovo and Albania approved legal amends for turning this into a crime.

PM: Imams are not part of us

The Muslim Community in Albania declared that the people who were arrested are not employees of this institution.

In the press release, the Muslim Community declared that their stance is that the Albanian devotees should not be involved in the Syrian conflict, and that they encourage a fair legal process to this situation. The Press Office of this institution writes that the participation in conflicts and the encouraging of violence do not go in the same path with the spirit of the Islam religion, and that the institution of the Muslim Community is a promoter of the most beautiful Islamic values, a preacher of harmony and tolerance in our country.

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