A court on Monday heard how the police started investigating seven Syrian men over suspicious jihadist activity on social media, eventually roping in the European police agency before arrests were made last month.
The men fled Syria and travelled to Malta in 2017 when Syrian government forces drove out the Isis terrorist group from the area where they lived.
Ajil Al Muhsen, 21, Adnan Maashi, 21, Yazan Abduklaziz, 26, Ahmed Kadas, 25, Khalil Al Mahmoud, 21, Ahmed Ahmed, 27 and Mohammed Mohammed, 24, were rounded up during early morning raids on April 29, just over a month after a magisterial inquiry had kicked off into their social media activity.
They are pleading not guilty to distributing material aimed at inciting terrorism, recruiting or encouraging third parties to carry out terrorist acts or planning to travel abroad as part of a terrorist plot.
They also deny receiving and providing training on the use of firearms and explosives, financing or organising overseas travel for terrorism-related training as well as spreading extremist material supporting terrorism.
All seven were remanded in custody upon arraignment.
Prosecuting officers testified about how investigations kicked off in August 2022, focusing on a group of persons who published extremist material related to Isis on their social media accounts.
Following a noticeable increase in shared content in January 2023, police sought the assistance of Europol.
A magisterial inquiry also started on March 20.
As police investigations intensified, they discovered that most of the men had originated from the Syrian desert town of Sukhnah and had travelled to Malta where they applied for asylum and were granted subsidiary protection.
They all came to Malta after 2017, the year when Isis lost control of the town after being attacked by Syrian government troops.
The men were often in touch with each other, some of them sharing the same workplace and also meeting for prayers at a Sta Venera mosque.
Following their arrests in an operation targeting various addresses in Malta, police seized electronic devices, papers, distinctive rings and other items.
Videos by Islamic State as well as Islamic songs featuring terrorist leaders and prominent Isis figures were shared on the suspects’ Instagram and TikTok accounts.
That material dealing with Jihad, martyrdom and Sharia law, was classified as “jihadist terrorism.”
It amounted to online propaganda and some of the posts had been viewed by over a hundred viewers, the officers said.
Asked by the defence whether the accused had transferred any funds to terrorist organizations, the prosecutor said that since investigations were still ongoing, he could not reply to that question.
The case continues on Thursday.
Magistrate Nadine Lia presided the hearing. Inspectors Jeffrey Cutajar and Jean Paul Attard prosecuted, assisted by AG lawyers Antoine Agius Bonnici, Francesco Refalo and Rebecca Spiteri.
Lawyers Jose Herrera, Alex Scerri Herrera, Matthew Xuereb, Alicia Borg and Robert Galea were defence counsel.