Danish court expels man guilty of joining IS group

COPENHAGEN – An appeals court in Copenhagen has unanimously stripped off the Danish citizenship of a pizzeria owner for joining radical Islamic State militants in Syria, in the first such ruling in Denmark.

The Eastern High Court says Hamza Cakan, who has dual Danish and Turkish citizenship, will be expelled to Turkey after serving his term.

The Copenhagen court on Friday sentenced Cakan, formerly known as Enes Ciftci, to six years in prison, one year down from a previous ruling.

His lawyer Michael Juul Eriksen called the ruling “disappointing.”

Cakan who ran a pizzeria in suburban Copenhagen, has acknowledged joining the IS group and appeared in its registry as “Abu Aya Dinimarki.” He was arrested in 2015 after attempting to head for Syria again.