Islamist preacher Sven Lau delivers a speech during a pro-Islam demonstration in Cologne, Germany June 9, 2012. REUTERS/Ina Fassbender
DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) - A German man charged with supporting an Islamist militant group in Syria stayed silent on the first day of his trial in Duesseldorf on Tuesday, though his lawyer told the court that the prosecution was "flying blind" and its witnesses were unfit.
Prosecutors said Sven Lau, 35, had served as an "extended arm" of the Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, an insurgent group made up of around 1,500 Chechen, Uzbek and Tajik fighters, which last year pledged allegiance to the Nusra Front, then an al Qaeda affiliate.
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