PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A Kosovo court decided Monday to continue detaining two Albanian men who allegedly joined extremist groups in Syria.
The Pristina court decided in separate cases in favor of prosecutors’ requests to leave the suspects in detention for a month.
A statement said one man, identified only as H.S., left Kosovo in November 2015 “to join the terror organization ISIS.” He is charged with joining and taking part in a foreign army or police, or paramilitary units, something punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
In another case, the Pristina court also left in detention for one more month the suspect identified as Y.B. on same terror offenses. He is accused of taking part in the war in Syria fighting alongside the Abal al-Nustra and Dawala Islamya terror groups
The statements did not say whether the men were among those repatriated early Sunday from Syria.
Four Albanian women and nine children, all related to Albanians who joined Islamist extremist groups fighting in Syria and Iraq, were repatriated on Sunday. They were joined by several Kosovar citizens.
Dozens of Kosovo citizens still remain in Syria, most of them widows of former fighters, according to the authorities.
In the last two years Kosovo has repatriated at least 121 citizens, mostly women and children, from Syria. Many of the adults have been charged with terrorism-related offenses and are serving prison sentences.
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