A man who travelled to Syria to fight for a terrorist group before returning to the UK has been jailed following an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Isa Giga, 32, formerly of Hounslow in west London, was arrested at Heathrow Airport on 23 May 2024 after flying back from Turkey.
Officers were first alerted to him in 2018 after learning he had travelled to Syria via Turkey to fight for Jaysh Al Fath — an alliance of Islamist armed factions in the Syrian civil war that included an Al-Qaeda-linked group.
Giga flew from Heathrow to Istanbul on 7 September 2015 before taking a second flight to Adana in southern Turkey, then crossing the border into Syria.
Evidence collected by counter-terrorism officers included family emails and social media messages confirming he had gone to Syria to “fight for Jihad”. Investigators also used flight records and bank transactions to track his movements.
Further incriminating material came from messages Giga sent to an undercover officer in June 2016, where he said he had “never knew about jihad until 2015” when ISIS took control of parts of Syria. He told the officer he supported “Nusra”, part of Jaysh Al Fath, and “wanted martyrdom very soon in the first row”.
Giga was convicted on 18 July of preparing acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006, after a two-week trial at the Old Bailey.
He was jailed for nine years on Friday 17 October.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Anyone who returns to the UK after fighting for a terrorist group will be thoroughly investigated, no matter how long it has been since they left the country.
“We work very closely with other partners and agencies here in the UK and overseas in order to identify these individuals and keep the public safe.
“A Terrorism Act conviction will also be followed by strict notification requirements, ensuring we can monitor offenders closely, even after they are released from prison.”
