Czech Is Sentenced to Prison for Trying to Join ISIS
However, Mr. Silovsky told had police investigators earlier
that he thought he would be killing "Syrian soldiers as well as Americans for being imperialists and Russians for killing Muslims." He also told the police he would have been willing to carry out executions, "but only of those who deserve it — murderers or drug smugglers." "I would shoot those people; I would certainly not cut their throats," he told the police.
Miroslav Mares said that The way the Islamic State is presented in the media can be very appealing for
such frustrated individuals, although I do think they would be disillusioned once they get there.
"He worked very hard, he was always on time," his boss at the company told the Czech news media in August, after Mr. Silovsky was arrested.
24, 2017
PRAGUE — A former mechanic from a sleepy town in the western part of the Czech Republic had never even
met a Muslim when he decided last year to travel to Syria to take up arms for the Islamic State.
On Friday, the mechanic, Jan Silovsky, 22, was sentenced to three years
and three months in prison for his effort to join the terrorist group, the first Czech citizen convicted on terrorism charges.
Mares said the Czech authorities, which last year introduced stricter penalties for terrorism crimes as well as new types of terror-related crimes, should also focus on media education
and promote awareness of how to deal with online propaganda.
In his first appearance before the court this month, Mr. Silovsky said he had wanted to go to Syria but did not want to kill anyone.
