A Belgian court has convicted the leader of an Islamist group and many of his followers for sending jihadists to Syria.
Fouad Belkacem, the chief of the now disbanded Sharia4Belgium group, was led into the court in handcuffs and smiled as he was jailed for 12 years.
Only eight of the 46 accused appeared in Antwerp's tightly secured courtroom during the five-month trial, with the remainder believed to be in Syria or to have died fighting.
Judge Luc Potargent said: "Belkacem is responsible for the radicalisation of young men to prepare them for Salafist combat, which has at its core no place for democratic values.
"Sharia4Belgium recruited these young men for armed combat and organised their departure for Syria."
Belgium has more jihadist fighters per head of population than any other European country, with authorities estimating 350 Belgians have left for Syria, and the sentence comes with the country on high alert after a plot to kill police was uncovered last month.
Belkacem, 32, a Moroccan-born car engineer, is already serving a two-year sentence for inciting hatred against non-Muslims.
He is known for his street sermons and was a leading figure in persuading young Belgians to fight in Syria, despite never having been there himself.
The aim of his group of radicals was to establish Sharia law in Belgium, an intention he expressed in a series of YouTube videos.
Public prosecutor Ann Fransen told reporters: "Belkacem's words can only be interpreted as a call to violence and jihad."
One of the young men Belkacem was accused of radicalising is 20-year-old Jejoen Bontinck, who was charged with belonging to Sharia4Belgium.
Bontinck later became a key prosecution witness and was given a 40-month suspended sentence.
The teenager claimed he had travelled to Syria to help victims of the conflict, but his father, Dimitri, who brought him home, said he knew his son was being indoctrinated.
The other members of the group were sentenced to between three and five years in prison, with some of the sentences being suspended.
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