Status: 01/25/2022 04:34 a.m
Again and again her father tried in vain to bring Leonora M. home from the IS area. Only after the terror regime withdrew did the young woman turn herself in – now she is on trial.
At the age of 15, Leonora M. from Breitenbach in Saxony-Anhalt traveled to Syria to join the terrorist organization “Islamic State”. She became the third wife of a German, a member of the IS security apparatus. The case had touched many people nationwide because her father had tried for almost two years with the help of smugglers to bring his daughter back home. The project failed more than ten times.
Today, the now 22-year-old has to face charges from the Attorney General. The Higher Regional Court of Naumburg is responsible for the process. Because of the special requirements, however, the hearing is being held in the security wing of the justice center in Halle.
Converted to Islam in 2014
The accusation: Leonora M. registered as a member of the so-called Islamic State after her arrival in Syria in March 2015 and thus participated in a foreign terrorist organization. A few days later she married Martin Lemke from Zeitz, who went to Syria with his two wives and two children in November 2014. Leonora’s parents first looked for her among friends and relatives and filed a missing person’s report.
At the time, they neither knew about the wedding nor that Leonora M. had already converted to Islam in January 2014. The parents only found out about it days after her disappearance, through a voice message from their daughter.
Marriage arranged via internet
Leonora’s marriage to Lemke was arranged over the Internet while still in Germany. Namely through the first wife Lemkes, a young French woman who studied German as a foreign language in Leipzig. Leonora M. was able to satisfy her curiosity about Islam with information from Facebook and WhatsApp groups, her father later wrote in a book. Those around her didn’t notice how her desire to live as a Muslim with a headscarf and face veil manifested itself. In her small place of residence, she saw no opportunity for this.
life in Raqqa
Leonora M. lived in Syria from March 2015 to June 2017 in Raqqa. There she “looked after the household in accordance with the duties incumbent on her according to the ideology of the IS” and thus supported Lemke in his work for the terrorist militia, according to the indictment. She is said to have worked for the terrorist militia herself for money and spied on the women of IS fighters.
At the end of June 2015, her husband “bought” a Yazidi with the aim of reselling it for a profit. Leonora M. took care of the 33-year-old and her two children and thus supported her husband’s human trafficking, the prosecution accuses her of. This is an accessory to crimes against humanity. Violating gun laws is another charge. Leonora apparently possessed a semi-automatic pistol and an assault rifle.
When IS was pushed back further and further in 2017, Leonora M. and her husband fled Raqqa in June. For a year and a half they had to move again and again. During this time, Leonora M. gave birth to two girls, Habiba and Maria.
Just 14 days after the birth of their second daughter in January 2019, Leonora M. and Lemke surrendered to Kurdish security forces. Leonora M. was then taken to a prison camp in north-eastern Syria with her two daughters. She lived there for almost two years.
Since 2020 in Germany
In December 2020, the federal government brought Leonora M. back to Germany with her two children in a secret operation. Upon her arrival in Frankfurt am Main, she was first arrested by officers of the LKA Sachsen-Anhalt. After about three weeks, the arrest warrant was suspended and Leonora M. was released in early January 2021.
22 days of negotiations scheduled
The procedure is initially scheduled for 22 days of negotiations. The public is excluded. It is difficult to say what penalty Leonora M. has to face and depends on a number of factors. On the one hand, the court must decide whether juvenile criminal law applies. That means a maximum of ten years in prison. Leonora M. joined IS when she was 15, but came of age after fleeing Raqqa. Criminal offenses as adolescents could increase the sentence.
Another point about the sentence: under certain conditions, the court would have the option of counting Leonora M’s years in the northern Syrian prison. It is therefore also conceivable that Leonora M. gets away without a prison sentence.
Judge Ursula Mertens will lead the process, she also chaired the trial of the Halle assassin. The 58-year-old is the presiding judge at the Naumburg Higher Regional Court and received a lot of recognition after the trial of the attack on the synagogue in Halle, especially for her sensitive and empathetic way of dealing with the victims.