An alleged jihadist arrested in Briviesca after encouraging "jihad" in Spain

A man has been arrested in Briviesca (Burgos) after having expressed "openly" his intention "to make Jihad in Spain or abroad" and to obtain weapons, as reported this morning by the National Police. The arrest came shortly after investigators monitoring radical jihadist activity on the networks detected that this person was consuming a large amount of violent material from "producers related to DAESH [Arabic acronym for the terrorist group Islamic State] that included beheadings, individual and group executions." In the second arrest so far this week for crimes linked to radical Islamism, after the arrest of a woman in Vitoria on the accusation of indoctrinating in jihadist ideology to, among other people, her minor children.

The investigations, developed "jointly by the General Information Commissariat and the Provincial Information Brigade of Burgos", began at the beginning of the year, after the agents confirmed that an individual from Briviesca was consuming "massively" terrorist material and glorifying these acts. In addition, always according to the police, he had tried to capture other people through social networks, to which he showed the hardest material.

The National Police, which has acted under the instructions of the Prosecutor's Office and the Central Court of Instruction number 5 of the National Court, ensures that in recent months the now detained had hardened his radical discourse to encourage "to carry out terrorist attacks, in addition to openly stating that he was willing to 'do Jihad' by committing a violent action in Spain or wherever possible. " The police highlight in a note.

The arrested, in addition to radicalizing, had expressed "interest" in obtaining firearms, which accelerated the arrest during the early hours of Tuesday. This Thursday, the arrested has been made available to the judge, who has ordered his entry into prison.

With this, there are already 21 alleged Islamic radicals arrested in Spain so far this year – another 10 have been arrested in other countries, mainly Morocco, in the course of joint operations – although it is the first that occurs this year in the Basque Country. Since 2012, the province of Álava has been the scene of five other arrests of suspected jihadists. In total, 29 people have been arrested in Euskadi in recent years, according to official statistics from the Ministry of the Interior.