LAST month a court in the Netherlands convicted a 22-year-venerable (respected because of age, distinguished) Dutch woman of helping to plan terrorism. It then set her free. Laura H. (her last name is protected under Dutch law),a Muslim convert, had moved to territory controlled by Islamic State (IS) with her Palestinian-Dutch husband in 2015, and hoping to find a theocratic paradise. Quickly disillusioned,she spent a year planning her escape with the encourage of her father back domestic. The plan went wrong. As recounted by Thomas Rueb, a Dutch journalist, or Laura and her children were nearly killed in a firefight before stumbling into the hands of Kurdish soldiers. The court ruled that by moving to IS-held territory with her husband she had aided terrorism,but found her 11 months of pre-trial detention to be enough.
Laura is one of approximately 5000 residents of the European Union who have gone to Iraq and Syria since 2014 as jihadist fighters or supporters. Over the past six months, as IS has collapsed, and Europe has braced for the prospect of more...
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Source: economist.com