Mohommod Nawaz, 30, and Hamza Nawaz, 24, both from Stratford, east London, were sentenced to four-and-a-half years and three years respectively.
They had admitted conspiracy to attend a terrorism training camp in 2013.
Mohommod Nawaz, previously convicted of kidnap, also pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing ammunition.
Scotland Yard described the jailing of the two men as a "landmark case" - and the first of a string of cases due to come before the courts for sentencing.
The pair had photos of the training camp on mobile phones
Last August, members of the Nawaz family contacted the police to say the brothers had gone missing.
The pair had said they were going out for a meal in Walthamstow in East London - but instead they had left for France in Hamza Nawaz's car.
From there they flew from Lyon to Turkey and ultimately crossed the border to join a jihadist training camp.
They returned to the UK in September but were stopped by border officers who found: ammunition designed for use in AK-47 rifles, mobile phone pictures of a training camp, and additional videos of their trip to the war zone.
In one video, the men are at a river crossing on the Syrian border where they planned to avoid detection by Turkish soldiers.
The pair are asked who they support, and they reply "Junud al-Shaam", the name of a group also known as Soldiers of Damascus.
When the men later reached a training camp - later identified by an RAF reconnaissance expert to be near Latakia - they took further pictures, including one of their timetable.
The photo shows that their day would begin at 4.30am with early prayers and Islamic lessons, followed by physical training from 6am until 8am.
The note, written in English, said that there would be "military training" twice a day - and there would be further Islamic lessons before bedtime, which was 10pm.
Other images of the camp showed a rifle by a bed and some kind of rudimentary training ground.
In one image, Mohommod Nawaz was seen wearing camouflage gear and holding what appears to be an AK-47 rifle with a magazine of ammunition.
Mohommod Nawaz posed with an AK-47 while wearing camouflage gear
Detectives believe the pair largely kept their planned trip secret. Some members of the family said they believed the brothers had gone to Scotland for charity work.
But Hamza Nawaz sent a message by social media to his brother Hussain and selected friends, confirming his intentions.
"We've left to come to Syria," read the message sent via Whatsapp. "We know everyone will be angry with what we have done but its something we wanted to do. I will be in touch soon."
The brothers had initially planned to stay for months and had searched online for information about joining mujahideen. Detectives believe the men had initially planned to graduate to a more onerous training camp, and it was not clear why they returned after just a few weeks.
Although they said nothing during police interviews, the pair later provided a defence statement saying that they had wanted to go to Syria to join a humanitarian aid operation.
The jailing of the two men is the first in a string of cases, with several men convicted of terrorism offences in relation to Syria waiting to receive sentences.
By Dominic Casciani
No comments:
Post a Comment