In the first trial in Italy involving foreign fighters operating inside the war zone, a court yesterday convicted an Italian woman and her Albanian husband in absentia on terrorism charges for traveling to Syria to join the Islamic State group.
The court sentenced Maria Giulia Sergio to nine years in prison and her husband, Aldo Kobuzi, to 10 years; both are believed to be in Syria. Sergio had encouraged her parents and sister to join her, the first known case of an entire Italian family planning to join IS.
Sergio’s father, who was arrested in mid-2015, six months after his daughter travelled to the Middle East, was convicted in the same trial of a lesser charge of charge of organizing the journey of jihadists and sentenced to four years in jail. Sergio’s mother died while in custody pending trial, while her sister was tried separately and received a five-year sentence for association with a goal of international terrorism.
The court also convicted in absentia Kobuzi’s mother and sister, who are also believed to be in Syria, and sentenced them to eight years in prison.
