Former Islamic State leader in Germany loses deportation appeal

The former leader of the Islamic State terrorist group in Germany, Abu Walaa, has lost his appeal to avoid deportation.

The 41-year-old Iraqi is currently serving a sentence that keep him behind bars until May 2027. Following his release, he is due to be sent back to Iraq.

After an urgent appeal against his deportation a year ago went against him, the full case was heard by the Düsseldorf Administrative Court.

In the ruling, the judge said there was neither evidence that Walaa has credibly renounced his former life as an Islamic State terrorist nor that he has deradicalized, and that therefore there was a risk of reoffending.

The judge said that the danger posed by him to public safety was so serious that the interests of his seven children did not prevent him from being deported.

His lawyer unsuccessfully requested that the proceedings be suspended until an expert opinion of his potential danger was available.

The Islamic preacher was found guilty of support and membership in a foreign terrorist organization by a court in Celle in 2021, after a trial that lasted more than three years.

The court found that until his arrest in 2016, he had espoused a jihadist ideology as an imam in a mosque in the northern city of Hildesheim.

The presiding judge said that he had been appointed by Islamic State as its de facto top representative in Germany.

Despite the judge's ruling, there is a strong chance that the German government will not follow through with Abu Walaa's deportation, as Iraq has not ruled out executing him upon return.