Via The Local:

A radical preacher who sent a young Muslim father to his death in Syria and then asked his young wife to join his harem has been jailed for six years for terrorism.

A court in the Austrian city of Graz heard that the 42-year-old imam, originally from Chechnya, persuaded several young men to head to Syria to join in the jihad including the woman’s husband.

The court heard that three of those had lasted only a few days after they ended up fighting on the frontline, including the husband of the young woman who the preacher had then offered to accept as his third wife. He also agreed to adopt her three children whose father he had sent to his death.

The woman was also on trial after the court heard that she had been inspired by his offer, and had attempted to head to Syria with her three children.

Her new husband, who had kindly offered to look after her and the children after her husband’s tragic death, was not a qualified imam but had been preaching at a mosque in Graz.

The court heard that his young wife was only stopped at the border after her family complained that she was going there to join ISIS. They later admitted that they had no proof, and acted out of desperation to stop her taking the three children out of the country.

Also on trial was a man who had been to Syria to shoot a propaganda film and a third who, having been identified as a former fighter for ISIS, has now been taken into the Austrian witness protection programme.