“Belgians in Syria: one of the six repatriated women is at large,” translated from “Belges en Syrie: une des six femmes rapatriées circule librement,” Le Soir, December 7, 2021:

Contrary to what the Minister of Justice said last week, a woman repatriated to Belgium from Syria is at large in the country.

The six women who were repatriated to Belgium from Syria are still deprived of their liberty, Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne confirmed in the House last week. One of them has been circulating freely since October, De Morgen reported on Tuesday.

The person in question, S.A., 34, left for Syria in 2015, a year after the Islamic State terrorist group declared a caliphate there. Once brought back to Belgium, she was imprisoned, because she had been sentenced by default to 5 years in prison. She opposed the decision and in mid-October the court reduced her suspended sentence to three years, after which she was given a conditional release.

Asked by a deputy last week in plenary, Minister Van Quickenborne therefore seemed to have been misinformed by the prosecution, says the federal prosecution. “Our documents were not up to date, so it was a mistake,” said the spokesman for the prosecution. The minister did not wish to comment.