A suspected Islamic State fighter deported from Malta in 2018 after being caught with fake ID documents was this week sentenced to life imprisonment by a Hungarian court. 

Hassan Farhoud, 28, was found guilty by the Hungarian court of crimes against humanity and multiple counts of murder, including a beheading. He however was found not guilty of terrorism charges.

Sources said that witnesses to the beheading gave their accounts in a Maltese court, as part of a European investigation order into the case.

Farhoud will be eligible for parole in 30 years.

Prosecutors have reportedly appealed the decision in a bid to secure the terrorism charges and ensure an effective life sentence without parole.

Farhoud maintained his innocence throughout the case. 

The murders he was charged with were carried out in Homs, Syria, in retaliation against locals who refused to join the terrorist organisation. 

Farhoud was deported from Malta in 2018 after being caught living on the island with fake Italian ID documents.

He was later arrested in Greece over an attempt to slip back in to Malta.

In December 2018, Farhoud was caught with forged documents at Budapest’s Liszt Ferenc Airport.

According to Hungarian media reports, Farhoud received a suspended sentence over the forged document and was set to be expelled from the country. 

However, further information uncovered his links to IS, leading to the terrorism charges. 

His lawyer László Kelen has reportedly claimed the evidence against his client is unreliable.