by Stefano Piazza
Several videos promoting the ideology and activities of the Islamic State were found on the devices of the young man, a university student in Milan
In recent days, the State Police arrested a 20-year-old Egyptian citizen for possession of material for terrorist purposes. Yesterday, as requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Lecco (Lombardy), the Preliminary Investigating Judge (GIP) at that Court validated the arrest, imposing preventive detention in prison.
The arrest was the result of an investigation conducted by the D.I.G.O.S. (Special Operations Division) of the Milan Police Headquarters – International Anti-Terrorism Section – and the Lecco Police Headquarters, coordinated by the Central Directorate of the Prevention Police – Service for the Fight against Extremism and External Terrorism, in close collaboration with the External Security Agency. It culminated on the morning of May 21, when the young man was subjected to a local and home search at his residence in the province of Lecco.
The investigation was prompted by reliable information indicating that an individual was active on a social media platform as the administrator of a jihadist propaganda channel, through which he also maintained contact with members of the Islamic State. According to reports, he had also acquired, via his smartphone, numerous pieces of propaganda material relating to ISIS, as well as manuals and/or operating instructions and other digital material preparatory to the manufacture of homemade explosive devices, thus making his imminent activation possible. Further investigations carried out promptly by the State Police made it possible to fully identify the arrested individual, who resides in the province of Lecco with his family and is a university student in Milan.
At the end of the operation, conducted under the direction of the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Court of Lecco, the young man was found in possession of two Arabic-language manuals, printed by himself, bearing the logo of the ‘Al-Saqari Foundation for Military Sciences’ and containing detailed instructions on the preparation and use of mobile phones as detonators for the preparation of homemade explosive devices and the production of poisonous substances for the purpose of committing acts of terrorism.
In addition, a significant amount of multimedia content of investigative interest was found on the computer devices in the possession of the arrested man: several video files propagating the ideology and activities of the Islamic State,as well as text documents and images relating to the aforementioned terrorist organization, with specific manuals—in some cases, also traceable to the Islamic State—concerning combat instructions, training, the handmade creation of explosive devices, types of weapons and ammunition, courses on explosives and chemical weapons, the safe use of social media platforms and messaging channels, and manuals on settings, privacy, anonymization, and concealment.
In addition to electronic devices that will be subject to further analysis, several handwritten sheets were also seized which, following careful translation, were found to contain notes similar in content to the above-mentioned digital documentation, as well as references to well-known radical Arab theologians.
In light of this evidence, the State Police arrested the individual for the crime referred to in Article 270 quinquies 3 of the Italian Criminal Code, introduced by the latest ‘security package’, concerning the possession of material for terrorist purposes, and, on the orders of the Lecco Judicial Authority, remanded him to the Lecco Prison. The investigation, which could lead to further developments, will be carried out under the coordination of the Milan District Prosecutor’s Office, which has jurisdiction over the type of crime alleged.