Prosecutors: Romanian detained for jihadist propaganda, willing to sacrifice his life for ISIS

Luigi Constantin Boicea, the young Romanian detained on December 8 for allegedly making jihadist propaganda online, was willing to sacrifice his life for ISIS causes, according to the local investigators. According to a video of the Directorate for Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the teenager went through several stages of Islamist radicalization: he converted to Islam, acceded to the radical Islamist ideology and the jihadist cause promoted by ISIS, and he made it a personal duty to get involved in the execution of terrorist acts. The suspect promoted the terrorist group’s actions by posting opinions, texts, pictures, and audio-video recordings on social networks. Through these posts, the young Romanian was aiming to make the group’s activities known and thus attract new followers. After converting to Islam, he completely changed his lifestyle, the prosecutors say in the video. He isolated himself from the society and the family, he started to speak in the name of the Islamic State, he no longer saw himself as part of the community and started wearing Muslim clothes. He also posted on social networks pictures of himself wearing marks of the Islamic State. Moreover, he has chosen an Arab name for himself and used it to create several accounts on social networks, trying to make contact with ISIS followers or members. He also managed to convince people to become followers of the Islamic State, according to DIICOT. The teenager has shown his willingness to sacrifice his life for ISIS. He was planning to do that by going to the areas where ISIS members operate and join them, or by carrying out a suicide terrorist act in Europe at the command of ISIS. For this purpose, he started to search for information on how he could get AK-type weapons, grenades, and bulletproof vests. Moreover, he also searched information about how to make a bomb. According to judicial sources cited by local Mediafax, the Romanian teenager will undergo a psychiatric examination. Based on its results, the prosecutors will decide how to further investigate him. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com