Researcher warns against imprisoning people returning from battles in Syria

Researcher warns of imprisoning Syria travelersLars Gule. Photo Flickr.com

PST’s aggressive strategy of imprisoning people who have fought in the Syrian Civil War may lead to a future terrorist problem,  researcher Lars Gule warns.
According to a survey made by the Danish Institute of International Studies  18  out of 25 presumed perpetrators of Islamist terrorist operations in Europe and North America between 2012 and August 2015 were  former criminals,  according to the newspaper Klassekampen.
One of the lessons learned in the aftermath of former terrorist operations is that radicalization in prison often  plays an important part in turning people into terrorists. EU head of counterterrorism  Gilles de Kerchove warned before the Paris-terror that many criminals could be recruited to terrorist organizations ,when people who had fought in wars abroad were imprisoned.
– It is obvious that the aggressive strategy chosen by PST, where they imprison people who have been in Syria,  potentially could lead to a future terrorist problem, says Gule. To what extent this becomes a problem, according to Gule, is dependent on the what their imprisonment will be like, not least the prison conditions.
– The rhetoric about confining them and that we can not punish them hard enough, is counterproductive and may confirm their extremist worldview, Gule says.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today