The trial of a Syrian man accused of being part of the Islamic State terrorist organization continues in Hungary.
The Budapest Municipal Court held a hearing in the case of Hassan F. on Tuesday. He is charged with terrorism and mass murder.
During the trial, video footage of an execution in Syria was examined by the court’s expert who said that it was of bad quality and it could not be ascertained if the suspect was in it. One of two forensic experts for the court also declined to provide an opinion due to the poor quality of the footage, while the other said it was 53.3 percent likely that a man in the footage was Hassan F.
The court will hold its next hearing on Thursday when it will hear witnesses in Belgium and Malta by way of a tele-conference.
Hassan F. was arrested in December 2018 when he presented false documents at Budapest Airport for himself and a woman in his company, and was to be expelled from Hungary.
However, in March last year, suspicions were raised that he was part of the IS terrorist organization and took part in several executions in 2015.
At a hearing in November last year, the suspect denied all charges and said he had not been in Syria in 2015, having fled to Turkey with his family the previous year.
The municipal court said it had sought information from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees office in Budapest as to when Hassan F. had arrived in Turkey but received no answer to their enquiry. The court has requested the justice ministry to apply for international legal assistance to obtain the necessary information.
Photo credit: vasarhely24.hu