German prosecutors have demanded prison sentences for two suspects in the first trial of suspected members of the Lebanese Hezbollah in Germany.
If convicted, a 50-year-old Lebanese man could face a prison sentence of five and a half years for membership of a foreign terrorist organization, the press service of the Hanze Higher Regional Court announced on Wednesday.
The Public Prosecution Service demanded three years in prison against the second defendant, a 56-year-old German-Lebanese national.
The two suspects were arrested on May 10 last year in the state of Lower Saxony.
The 56-year-old is said to have been a member of an elite military unit in Hezbollah. From 2009, he was reportedly active as a member and later chairman of the al-Mustafa community, which was banned in Germany in 2022.
Hezbollah has been banned from operating in Germany since the end of April 2020.
The Shia Islamic organization, which Germany classifies as a terrorist group, denies Israel’s right to exist. The prosecutor states that the Iran-backed group also considers attacks on civilians to be legitimate in addition to attacks on military targets.
