French mother jailed for sending money to jihadist son in Syria

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A French woman was sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday, accused of “financing terrorism” for sending money to her son, a jihadist fighter believed to have been killed in Syria last year.

Nathalie Haddadi, 43, said she did not know what her son, Belabbas Bounaga, had used the money for. She had sent him 2,800 euros (3,300 US dollars) after he was mugged while in Malaysia but Bounaga apparently then traveled to Syria where prosecutors said he joined the ISIL terrorist group.

The mother-of-three, a marketing adviser from Alsace in eastern France, insisted she never sent money to Syria.

"I have trouble understanding how they can accuse me of financing terrorism," Haddadi told reporters before the verdict was announced. "I helped my son."

The judge however ruled that she knew "perfectly well" that the money would pay for her son’s trip to Syria.

"Without your substantial help he would not have been able to reach Syria so easily and fight with Islamic State (ISIL)," he said. "You financed a terrorist organization."

Syrian army soldiers ride on the back of a truck in al-Bugilia, north of Deir al-Zor, Syria September 21, 2017. /‍Reuters Photo

Haddadi, a non-practicing Muslim, had previously informed French authorities that her son had been radicalized and said she first sent him to Algeria to be with his father in the hopes he could “save” the young man.

Bounaga had however been barred from leaving France. Haddadi was also accused of hiding her son’s passport from the authorities.

In August 2016, she eventually received a call saying her son, aged 21, had died “a martyr.”

On Thursday, one of Bounaga’s brothers and a friend were also convicted of sending money to him and sentenced to a one-year suspended sentence and three years, respectively, France24 reported.

The judge did not order Haddadi’s immediate incarceration and reports said she might only end up serving part of her sentence. Her lawyer Herve Denis also said his client would appeal the verdict. Convicting a "tearful mother...is not harsh, it's nasty," he noted.

This case risks setting a precedent for other families of fighters in Syria, Denis also warned.

“This fight no longer belongs to Mrs. Haddadi alone but to all parents of sons radicalized in prison and who are threatened with prosecution,” he told Reuters.

France, and other EU counties, have seen thousands of their citizens leave for Syria and Iraq to join up with ISIL over the past few years. How to stop them and what to do when they return has been a continuing headache for the authorities.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters