Administrative Court of Düsseldorf: Ex-is-Germany boss fails with a lawsuit against the expulsion

Abu Walaa was considered the Germany boss of the terrorist group of Islamic State. With the hood pulled up his parking and ankle cuffs, he enters the courtroom in Düsseldorf. Eight judicial officers surround the 41-year-old Iraqi, who was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison as an IS terrorist and is currently fully sitting the punishment.

Nevertheless, he complained of his expulsion from Germany – and lost. The Düsseldorf Administrative Court rejected the 41-year-old’s lawsuit (Az. 27 K 7349/23). The expulsion interest predominates through mandatory reasons for national security, said the judge.

A credible departure from his attitude at the time as IS terrorist and a deradicalization cannot be seen. There is a risk of repetition. The concerns of his seven children should be behind it. The 41-year-old can still apply for approval of the appeal.

His deportation must be decided in a separate procedure. At the moment, this would probably fail due to the lack of diplomatic promise of Iraq not to be added to the 41-year-old. In addition, an application for asylum by the Iraqi must be decided, which must serve his punishment by May 2027.

Abu Walaa was imam of the mosque of the now banned association of German -speaking Islamkreis Hildesheim. He has been in a dropout program for almost two years. Most recently, he had distanced himself from jihadism.

However, the 41-year-old did not want to comment on dealing with his children or his current view of his crimes in the trial. His lawyer requested that the procedure be suspended on the danger of her client until an expert opinion.

The court reported from the files that he had come to Germany as an asylum seeker in July 2001 and then had seven children with two women.

Until his arrest in 2016, he represented a Salafist-jihadist ideology as an Imam in a Hildesheim mosque. In this spectrum, he was considered a leading religious authority and played a leading role for IS in Germany. As a recruiter, he motivated young jihadists to leave or for attacks in Germany.

Victim of a judicial scandal?

According to his conviction, there was nothing to be seen from Reue for a long time, on the contrary: for a long time he had asserted his innocence and complained in custody that up to four women would be entitled to. In addition, the trial of him was a show process. He saw himself as a victim of a judicial scandal: a key witness told lies.

The court read his first wife that the father’s imprisonment is a mental burden for the children. There is hardly any contact with the second wife and her children in Lower Saxony. The youth welfare office had announced that its children, all of whom have German citizenship, were firmly integrated in Germany and only speak German. A move to Iraq is unimaginable for you.

The almost two -year participation program in the departure program was significantly too short for a credible departure, even if he had now distanced himself from IS and Al Qaeda.

At a hearing at the Celle Higher Regional Court, he said in 2023 that he deeply regretted his actions. He always “persecuted the worst and most radical views” and saw himself as a victim for a long time and underestimated his actions, but now he was “woke up”.

On Wednesday, the administrative court also confirmed the requirements in the event of release, such as a daily report to the police and a smartphone ban. His lawyer had argued that the imposed smartphone ban was hindering, for example, looking for work and thus re-socialization.

The daily registration requirements prevented contact with his family in Lower Saxony. The representative of the district of Viersen, which had imposed the expulsion order, replied that the children could visit him in prison at any time in North Rhine-Westphalia. There is no ban on contact.

Without saying a word, Abu Walaa left the court after a four-hour trial by a side outcome where the prisoner transporter was waiting.