A naturalized U.S. citizen, Lirim Sylejmani, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for receiving military training from the Islamic State in Syria. The 49-year-old, originally from Kosovo and settled in Chicago for 25 years, joined ISIS in 2015 and participated in battles against U.S.-led coalition forces. According to prosecutors, Sylejmani engaged in at least one combat encounter with U.S.-led forces after entering Syria a decade ago.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington, D.C., imposed the prison sentence, which will be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Sylejmani pleaded guilty in December to one count of receiving military training from a foreign terrorist organization. The case highlights the complex legal and ethical implications of dual citizenship and the risk posed by individuals who voluntarily join extremist groups.
In November 2015, Sylejmani and his family flew to Turkey before crossing into Syria, where he received training with other ISIS recruits until February 2019, when he was captured by Syrian forces in Baghouz, Syria. His military training included instruction on how to assemble and fire an AK-47 rifle, as well as how to use a PK Machine gun, M-16 rifle, and grenades. Sylejmani was also once injured in a battle with Syrian forces in June 2016.
Prosecutors stated that Sylejmani, who adopted the name Abu Sulayman al-Kosovi, pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi and the organization in front of an Iraqi ISIS member. He was transferred to the U.S. in September 2020 to face criminal charges in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors emphasized that Sylejmani’s actions were not a single, impulsive act but a deliberate choice to jeopardize his family’s safety by bringing them to a war-torn country to join and take up arms for ISIS.
Sylejmani’s attorneys claimed he is not a ‘committed jihadist’ and does not espouse violence. ‘He is guilt-ridden for his actions and the harm he has visited on his family, who remain detained in a refugee camp in Syria living under terrible conditions,’ his lawyers wrote. ‘He wishes only to complete his time and find his wife and children, so he can live an average law-abiding life with them.’ This case underscores the ongoing challenges of combating terrorism and the legal procedures surrounding the prosecution of dual nationals who engage in extremist activities.