Iraqis helped convict their terrorist, Slovenian case reveals

The conviction of an Iranian jihadist in Ljubljana has revealed the extent of international cooperation behind the case, including evidence supplied by Iraqi authorities alongside American agencies.

At the end of last month, Ljubljana District Court sentenced asylum seeker Rašid Aziz to five years in prison for terrorism. During the trial, Aziz denied belonging to the Islamic State, or ISIS. The Eurojust report described a much broader investigation involving Slovenian, German, American, Iraqi and international bodies.

Aziz first came to Slovenia in 2019 after unsuccessful attempts to enter Germany. German authorities had identified several names and four different dates of birth linked to him. When he was detained for a second time, he gave the name Aršad Khamis Hamdani Aziz, which had already appeared on international wanted notices.

After Aziz returned from Germany for the second time, Slovenian authorities opened an investigation and exchanged evidence with Interpol and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. During the trial, he did not dispute that a U.S. private military unit from Blackwater had arrested him in Iraq in 2005 during the occupation. The stated reason involved fingerprints found on an unexploded explosive device, although Aziz denied planting it. He also denied a claim that coalition forces arrested him again two years later.

While he was detained in Slovenia, Slovenian authorities began cooperating with Iraq’s National Center for International Judicial Cooperation. Evidence transmitted through Eurojust identified Aziz, using the alias Abu Hadžar, as an active member of Dat al-Sawari, a structured military unit under the ISIS military ministry. Records seized after military victories reportedly included payment documents showing that Aziz and his family received money from the group. The accounting tables indicated that a payment to Aziz was accompanied by a stipend for his three children.