Bosnia Jails Syria Ex-Fighter for Weapons Cache

The Municipal Court in Sarajevo found Emin Hodzic guilty on Monday of illegal possession of weapons and explosive materials and sentenced him to two years in prison.

Hodzic was detained last November with two automatic rifles, a hand-held rocket-propelled launcher, an improvised mine, several hand grenades, more than 600 bullets and several magazines for automatic guns in a car he was driving in Sarajevo, according to the indictment.

"His weapons will be seized as part of security measures," judge Galiba Katica said.

Hodzic signed a guilt admission agreement with the Sarajevo cantonal prosecution, agreeing to the two-year prison sentence.

The time he has spent in custody since his arrest in November 2017 onward, will be counted towards his sentence.

In 2016, Hodzic was the first fighter returning from the Syrian battlefield to sign a guilt admission agreement with the Bosnian prosecution, under which he was sentenced to one year in prison.

About 200 Bosnian Muslims, all members of the Salafi community, have travelled to Syria and Iraq since 2012.

Most are believed to have fought with jihadi groups, including Islamic State and Al Qaeda affiliate Al Nusra. According to Bosnia's State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, at least 30 have been killed in the conflicts and 50 have now returned home.

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