APPREHENDED
- Full name: Samer Shehadeh
- Pseudonym: N/a
- Alternatives: N/a
- Location: Czechia, fmr Jordan, fmr Mauritania
- Affiliation: Support Front for the People of the Levant [JaNS]
Samer Shehadeh is a Czech-based Arab Islamist who turned to Salafism after studying theology in Saudi Arabia in the early 2010s.1 Upon his return, he was elected to serve as an imam to the city’s Muslim immigrant community.2 In 2014, Shehadeh vacated the position following disputes within the congregation over his radical viewpoints.3
Shehadeh became a supporter of the jihadi forces active in Syria and at one point even wanted to join them. He began collecting donations from Muslims in Czechia and Slovakia for the Support Front of the People of the Levant [JaNS; Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahl al-Sham].4 In December 2015, Shehadeh traveled to Istanbul to meet a representative of the organization.5 He was tasked with recruiting fighters and raise additional funds for the group.6
Over the next months, Shehadeh sent at least three Islamists, including his brother, to join the JaNS in Syria.7 He also transferred money to the organization on several further occasions. In August 2016, Shehadeh attracted the attention of Czech security services after he had urged Muslims to boycott interfaith meetings with Christian religious leaders.8 Fearing prosecution in Czechia, he went to Mauritania before settling in Jordan with his wife and children.9
Jordanian security forces arrested Shehadeh and extradited him to Czechia in November 2018.10 On Feb. 28, 2020, a court sentenced him to ten years in prison for having facilitated the travel of jihadis to Syria.11 An appeals court rejected his bid to overturn the ruling in May 2020.12 Shehadeh plead guilty to additional terrorism charges and saw his prison term lengthened to fourteen and a half years in April 2021.13 During the proceedings, he defiantly admitted and defended his actions.14
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