An individual working as an IT consultant made a surprising decision to leave the United Kingdom with the intention of engaging in Jihad in a different nation amid a civil conflict. Isa Giga, aged 32, informed his family that he was heading to Birmingham, but instead, he resigned from his job and traveled in business class to Syria through Turkey during the country’s civil unrest. Giga, an employee at the technology firm ANS, later contacted his distraught relatives via email, expressing his desire to be a martyr associated with the Jaysh al Fath terrorist organizations, stating, “I have come here to fight for jihad.”
Back in 2015, when Giga was 22 years old, he lived with his family in Hounslow and tendered his resignation at ANS after just five months in August 2015. Shortly after leaving his job on September 7, 2015, Giga flew from Heathrow to Asana, Turkey, via Istanbul, spending £808.86 on a return ticket but chose not to return.
In an email to his sister on September 8, 2015, Giga mentioned that his phone had malfunctioned. When his sister attempted to contact him through hotels in Birmingham the following day, he disclosed his true whereabouts, stating that he had traveled to Turkey and crossed into Syria to engage in jihad against the Assad regime and ISIS.
Despite his family’s pleas for him to return, Giga remained resolute in his decision, emphasizing his commitment to fighting in Syria. Eventually, he was sentenced to nine years in prison with an additional one-year extended license period after being convicted of preparing terrorist activities, despite his claims that he had traveled to Syria for personal religious studies. Giga will be subject to terrorist offender notification requirements for 15 years.
