A Syrian man has been arrested in Budapest on suspicion of acts of terrorism and carrying out multiple executions in his homeland in 2016.
The Budapest public prosecutor’s office requested the arrest of the suspected Islamic State member, and a central district court judge today ordered that the man known as F. Hassan be taken into custody.
According to intelligence reports, the Syrian is thought to have been a high-ranking IS leader who organized suicide bombings and at least 20 executions. His lawyer, László Kelen, said the suspect denies the charges.
Hungary’s Counter Terrorism Centre (TEK) announced on Saturday that it was working together with Europol and the police forces and secret services of various countries to assess the past criminal activities and network of links maintained in Europe by the Syrian who had successfully applied for asylum in Greece.
The municipal chief prosecutor said the 27-year-old is believed to have participated in Islamic State executions in Homs in 2016. Before arriving in Hungary, the suspect had visited a number of other European countries, TEK said.
The suspect was first detained at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc International airport on December 30th after producing forged travel documents for himself and a woman in his company. In a court proceeding he was handed a suspended prison sentence for “human smuggling and other crimes” and was awaiting expulsion from the country.