ISTANBUL, MARCH 15 - A court in Kilis, in south-eastern Turkey, sentenced Australian citizen Neil Christopher Prakash to seven and a half years in prison for his ties to ISIS.
The man was tried for terrorism after being arrested in the same province in October 2016, while trying to illegally enter Turkey from Syria along with a group of suspected militants of the self-styled Islamic State. His Australian citizenship was subsequently revoked.
In his last testimony at the trial, Prakash stated that he had left ISIS after seeing the "real face" and regretting his actions. Among the charges against him were those of having planned attacks and recruited members for the organization. He had also appeared in various propaganda materials of the jihadist group. Local media reported.