Court in Denmark finds owner of pizzeria guilty of fighting for ISIS

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A Copenhagen court found a Danish pizzeria owner guilty on Wednesday (June 22) of joining the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to fight in Syria, the first-such case in the Nordic country.

The verdict comes amid concerns of increased radicalisation among Muslims in Europe and deadly attacks claimed by Islamic State militants in Paris and Brussels.

The court found the 24-year-old defendant, who holds both Danish and Turkish passports, guilty of allowing himself to be recruited in 2013 by ISIS in order to commit terrorist acts in Syria.

The man, who was arrested in March 2015, had denied fighting for ISIS, but admitted to having worked as a baker for the group in Syria.

He is expected to be sentenced later on Wednesday.

The Danish authorities have been on high alert since two people were killed in shooting attacks at a free speech event and at a synagogue in Copenhagen in February 2015.

In April, the Danish police arrested four other people suspected of having been recruited by ISIS to commit terrorist acts and two others of breaking Danish weapons law.

More than 125 people from Denmark are believed to have joined ISIS after going to Syria and Iraq, the intelligence service said in October, adding that at least 27 of them had died there.

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