London man convicted of terrorism
Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism - A London man has been convicted of terrorism offences after travelling to Syria with the intention of committing acts of terrorism following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command.
Issa Giga, 32, formerly of Hounslow, west London, was arrested at Heathrow Airport on 23 May 2024 after disembarking from a flight from Turkey. He was later convicted of an offence under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 in July after a two-week trial at the Old Bailey.
Evidence included emails and social media messages from Giga’s family which proved he had travelled to Syria to “fight jihad”. Messages sent from Giga on a social media platform to an undercover officer in June 2016 showed Giga explaining that he had “never heard of jihad until 2015”.
The Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit learned in 2018 that Giga had travelled to Syria via Turkey to fight for Jaysh al-Fath, part of a coalition of Islamist armed factions fighting in the Syrian civil war, including an al-Qaeda affiliate.
Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command, said: “We have been clear for some time that anyone who returns to the UK suspected of involvement in any terrorist activity abroad will be fully investigated. As this case shows, we will always arrest those who return to the UK after fighting for a terrorist group, regardless of how long it has been since they left the country.”
Issa Giga will be sentenced at the Crown Court on October 17.
