Spanish Islamic Commission treasurer remanded in custody for allegedly financing terrorism in Syria
The treasurer of the Islamic Commission of Spain has been sent to pre-trial detention without bail for alleged links to jihadism. According to the court ruling, the trustee is alleged to have financed Islamic schools that teach the most radical branch of the interpretation of the Sharia. He is also linked to collaboration with an NGO for Syrian orphans that directly finances Al-Qaeda in Syria.
According to the National Police, this NGO is alleged to have fraudulently used funds donated by volunteers to finance Al-Qaeda terrorists. Another part of the proceeds were used to cover the costs of a school in a conflict zone that trained children to become future mujahideen, instructing them in the armed struggle and urging them to wage minor jihad 'for their parents killed in combat'.
These criminal activities were carried out through persons linked to an Islamic centre in Madrid. In addition, the treasurer managed other accounts of associations such as the Association of Muslims of Spain (AME).
This court ruling comes in the context of the recent arrests of two more members of the Commission, including the Commission's president, Ayman Adlbi, who was provisionally released. Adlbi, who has been living in Spain since the 1970s, is allegedly linked to the jihadist terrorist financing scheme known as Wamor.
In Syria, the situation of children is dramatic, as they are the most vulnerable victims of the conflict. In a war context in which, according to UNICEF data, one out of every three children knows only war, children are the ones who suffer the most in the long and short term. Many of them approach terrorist organisations when they find themselves alone, either because they have lost their families or because they have had to flee and take refuge. In this way, terrorists promise them a future and membership in a group that makes them feel part of a "new family".
Children recruited to fight have been direct victims of jihadism. Forced to commit crimes, many of them are trained in military training from a very young age. Girls, on the other hand, are abducted to serve as sex slaves and provide children to faithfully serve Allah. Under the slogan "Allah loves those who fight", Al-Qaeda trains children with the aim of later joining the ranks of the armed opposition.
The aim of this 'training' is allegedly to achieve the 'holy' struggle to turn the country into a 'state of Islam'. The UN Special Representative for Children in Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, presented a report reflecting the use of children as shields by rebel groups. Similarly, the report denounced the situation of minors by forcing them to serve as fighters or couriers whose "missions" consist of providing war supplies to terrorists.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court states that "conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities" is a war crime. However, war is sometimes a set of crimes that, in many situations, those directly responsible do not face criminal consequences and go unpunished. Meanwhile, civilians and children continue to suffer the consequences of a heart-rending terrorism that extinguishes the ideas of dreaming of a better future.
