Eurojust and Europol help identify terrorist group

USPA NEWS - The Belgian judicial authorities, in effective cooperation with Eurojust and Europol, targeted a terrorist group involved in the recruitment and training of Kurdish terrorist fighters.

2 suspects were apprehended by the Belgian authorities for hearings, following a number of hous searches, conducted simultaneously in 5 countries. Eurojust, the EU´s Judicial Cooperation Unit, facilitated the issuance and transmission of several European Investigation Orders that were swiftly executed in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland. Europol´s European Counter Terrorism Centre set up a coordination centre on a joint action day to support the operations of the law enforcement authorities in all countries concerned.

The Belgian Federal Prosecutor´s Office, in close collaboration with the investigative judge of Liège, specialised in terrorism matters, initiated a criminal investigation into the alleged terrorist organisation in 2017. Several operational meetings and one coordination meeting at Eurojust served as a platform to swiftly exchange case-related information and efficiently coordinate the next judicial and operational steps. The members of the terrorist organisation allegedly belong to some of the military wings, (including People´s Defence Forces (HPG) of the Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK). They are suspected of recruiting and training terrorist fighters, using training camps and sessions in various countries.