German Islamist Sven Lau will leave prison early after serving two-thirds of his sentence for supporting a terrorist organization. Lau had recruited fighters for the Jamwa militia in Syria.
Sven Lau (L) with his lawyer Mutlu Günal in 2016Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gambarini
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A German court on Thursday ordered the early release from jail of one of Germany's most renowned Salafists. Sven Lau had been serving a sentence of 5 1/2 years for aiding terrorism.
Lau was convicted in July 2017 of supporting Jamwa, an Islamist militia taking part in the Syrian war. He was found guilty of sending money and equipment to the group and also persuading two Salafists living in Germany to join the group.
German authorities first detained Lau in 2015. The time he had spent in custody counted towards the sentence served.
Lau was born to a Catholic family in the northwestern city of Mönchengladbach. After leaving school, he became an apprentice industrial mechanic and, in 1999, was apparently converted to Islam by a Turkish colleague. He worked as a fireman until 2008. Later, he became an active Salafist preacher.
He gained international notoriety in 2014, when he founded an organization calling itself the "Sharia Police." Members of the group patrolled streets in the western city of Wuppertal, in a bid to enforce sharia law, with regard to consumption of alcohol, gambling and listening to music, among followers of Islam.
On Thursday, the court said its decision to release Lau from jail early was based on the assumption that he has changed his ways.
"After spending years in prison, Sven L. will not be committing any more criminal offenses," the court said. "He has clearly distanced himself from his original extreme Islamist attitude."
The remainder of his sentence was suspended under strict terms, controlling where Lau is allowed to stay and who he is allowed to contact. The 38-year-old was also ordered to remain in close contact with his probation officer. He is likely to leave prison in the coming days.
Germany's biggest Islamist trials
The attempted bomb attack at the Bonn train station in 2012 led to one of the highest-profile terror trials in Germany. Here's a look at some other major trials involving Islamist extremists in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Marks
Failed Bonn bomb
The blue bag left on the platform at Bonn's central station in 2012 contained explosives that did not go off, but a city-wide manhunt unfolded. Marco G. was eventually arrested and charged with planting the bomb. Three others are charged with plotting to assassinate a politician from the far-right PRO-NRW party. Their group allegedly drew inspration from an Islamist movement in Uzbekistan.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Frankfurt airport bus attack
In March 2011, Arid Uka shot dead two US servicemen waiting for a bus at Frankfurt airport prior to deployment in Afghanistan. "This is indeed the first Islamic-motivated terror strike to have happened in Germany," the judge said, adding Uka had sought revenge for military operations in Afghanistan. Uka, born in Kosovo, acted alone and was sentenced to life in prison in February 2012.
Image: AP
The Sauerland Cell
The "Sauerland Cell" was a German cell of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a terrorist group on the Pakistani-Afghan border. The four German and Turkish men had planned large-scale bomb attacks against American targets in Germany from their base in the western region of the Sauerland. Arrested in September 2007, they were sentenced in March 2010 for up to 12 years.
Image: AP
Sharia Police
Sven Lau, a Salafist Muslim, was the man behind a well-known Islamist publicity stunt. In 2014, Lau led several men around the city of Wuppertal in orange security vests labeled "Sharia police." Acting as state authorities, they warned people visiting local clubs and bars to adhere to Sharia, or Islamic law. He is currently on trial for backing a terror group fighting in Syria.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Bildfunk/M. Becker
Big mouth
Nils D., a Salafist from Dinslaken, joined the "Islamic State" in Syria in October 2013. He tracked down the group's deserters - armed with explosives and guns. He returned to Germany a year later, and boastful statements about his time in Syria eventually got him arrested. He confessed the names of other German Islamic extremists and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail.
Image: DW/M. Gopalakrishnan
"Biggest mistake of my life"
On the final day of Harry S.'s July 2016 trial, he said "going to Syria was the biggest mistake of my life." The Bremen-born Muslim convert spent three months with "Islamic State" in Syria in 2015. He wanted out after civilians were murdered for a short recruitment film he helped make. He was sentenced to three years in jail for being part of a foreign terrorist organization.
