A British man has admitted to going to Syria nine years ago to join the so-called Islamic State.
In 2014, Shabazz Suleman, a 19-year-old resident of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, vanished while traveling with his family to Turkey.
The former grammar school student was detained on September 29, 2021, at Heathrow Airport and charged with a number of terrorism-related offenses.
He was due to face trial at the Old Bailey on May 15, but on Friday he pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism by travelling from the UK to Turkey in order to join IS in Syria in August 2014.
The defendant, now 27, was also charged with being a member of IS, a proscribed organisation, between 2014 and 2017, and receiving training in the use of firearms.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC said his guilty plea addressed the two other charges which he asked to be left on the court file.
Referring to the defendant’s basis of plea, Judge Mark Lucraft KC agreed and noted Suleman had gone to join IS ‘even if not becoming a member of it’.
He ordered a pre-sentence report on the defendant’s dangerousness and adjourned sentencing to May 26.
Remanding the defendant into custody, Judge Lucraft said: ‘This morning you have pleaded guilty to the preparation of terrorist acts. You will know a custodial sentence is inevitable.’
Suleman, who wore a blue suit, with a white shirt and yellow tie, had entered his guilty plea in the dock of the Old Bailey.
The prosecution had alleged that while attempting to travel to Syria, he had been held by Turkish forces before opting to be part of a prisoner swap with IS.
On joining the terrorist group in Syria, he became active on social media and posted about his experiences in IS territory while engaged with members of the media.
After the collapse of IS, he was taken captive by a faction of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) before being transferred to Turkey and then Pakistan.
In an interview with The Times newspaper, he said he had become disillusioned with jihadism and chose to desert the terrorist group.
Via encrypted messages he told the newspaper he went through ‘intense’ indoctrination by the group, adding: ‘I never thought I was being brainwashed until I saw the way they treat other Sunnis.’
In October 2017, he was also interviewed by Sky News while in the hands of FSA, the court heard.
Suleman arrived back in the UK on September 29 2021 and was arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000.
In a police interview, Suleman denied choosing to join IS while held in Turkey and said he had changed his mind about going but was handed over anyway as part of a deal with IS.
He also denied membership of the terrorist group, saying he never swore allegiance and was just a civilian.
He claimed he had tried to leave IS territory from mid-2015 and did not handle guns.
It can now be reported that Suleman’s defence team had tried unsuccessfully to get his earlier account in his Sky News interview ruled inadmissible.
The defendant claimed he had been forced into doing it by the FSA and told to say he had fought with IS in battles.
There was no accusation that the broadcaster was in any way complicit.
The defendant also claimed FSA had beat him and caused him to fear for his life after witnessing others being waterboarded.
However, Mr Atkinson, for the prosecution, had asserted that there was no evidence of duress or that Suleman had suffered ill treatment while being held by the FSA.
He argued that the defendant had even told the interviewer that he had access to a phone and could speak to his family on a regular basis.
In his ruling that the interview could be considered by a jury at trial, Judge Lucraft stated: ‘In my assessment, the defendant appears at ease throughout the whole of the interview process.
‘When this interview video recording is considered, the whole way it was conducted does not show any oppression or coercion on the part of the interviewer to what takes place.’
The charges against him alleged that in August 2014, he engaged in preparation for acts of terrorism by travelling from the UK to Turkey in order to join the Islamic State in Syria, contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The second charge of membership of IS related to his time in Syria between August 1 2014 and June 1 2017 with weapons training in the nine months after his arrival in the country.
In the course of the investigation, evidence was uncovered of messaging between the defendant and his friends and family, statements he gave to the media and his social media posts.
The prosecution had asserted that the material revealed his activities and his extreme mindset.