Plzen, West Bohemia, Feb 8 (CTK) – Jan Silovsky, 21, who has been charged with the preparation of a terrorist attack, wanted to join Islamic State, but he did not want to kill anyone, he told the Regional Court in Plzen today, adding that he wanted to go to Syria so that “they kill me.”
Silovsky, the first Czech tried for having wanted to join IS, was detained at the international airport in Istanbul in January 2016, but he was not probably a part of any group.
He had on an air ticket for an inter-state flight to the Syrian border. He was interrogated right at the airport and stripped of his mobile phone.
“They saw things on Islamic State in it, and that is why I confessed that I was heading for Syria,” Silovsky said today.
He faces 12 to 20 years in prison, or an exceptional punishment including a lifetime sentence. He has been in custody since last July.
Silovsky, who comes form the Plzen Region, said three or four years ago he bought the Bible and the Quaran and that he read both of them. He then decided to convert to Islam, of which no one, not even his mother, knew.
He said he knew no Muslims in his surroundings and that he did not communicate with other Muslims either by phone or via the Internet.
Silovsky said he wanted to go to the Syrian city of Jarabulus.
“I wanted to find there someone from IS, tell them that I have arrived to join their ranks. They would have probably sent me somewhere,” he said.
Silovsky said he had no contacts in Syria, he did not know exactly what he would be doing there. “I was not thinking about it much,” he said.
Silovsky said he hoped that IS will send him to a battle and that soldiers of the Syrian military will soon shoot him dead.
He said he wanted to join IS even though he is unable to shoot and does not even have theoretical knowledge of arms.
“I have shot once from an airgun,” Silovsky said.
He said he agrees with Islamic State’s effort to unite Islamic countries into a caliphate, but he considers the methods the organisation applies too violent.
Silovsky’s mother told the court she did not know that her son is a Muslim and that he is planning a journey to Syria. She only learnt this when he was taken into custody.
The mother said her son was never aggressive. “He is a good boy, he has never provoked any conflict, I have not heard him say a dirty word,” she said.
Silovsky has an older sister. The parents divorced when the children were small.
The mother said her son had boy friends, but then, they preferred drugs and alcohol. “My son is not like this, so he was rather alone,” she said.
Silovsky wanted to find a flat in Plzen and try to work as a welder.
The court session is planned for three days and it is not ruled out that it will give the verdict on the final day.
