Brit ‘who travelled to Syria and Iraq’ to fight AGAINST ISIS charged with terrorism offence
In March 2017, a Jim Matthews was a signatory of an "open letter from British YPG fighters on London attacks" posted on a Kurdish news website.
In it they urged people not to give in to extremism of any kind following the attacks in Westminster, London Bridge and Manchester.
A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said Matthews had been "requisitioned to appear" in court.
She said: "James Matthews, a UK national, will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 14 February to be formally charged with attending a place or places in Iraq and Syria where instruction or training was provided for purposes connected to the commission or preparation of terrorism on or before 15 February 2016 under Section 8 of the Terrorism Act 2006."
It is believed to be the first charge of its kind in the UK.
Matthews appeared in a Channel 4 documentary - The Brits battling ISIS - about his fight against the jihadist group.
The ex-soldier said he was inspired to join the YPG after seeing a photo of an ISIS fighter holding the head of a woman who had been decapitated.
“What really jolted me was a photo I saw on Facebook of an ISIS fighter holding up the severed head of a woman,” he said.
"It seemed like one of the most single evil things I've ever seen and it affected me quite a lot.
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Morons.
I never heard of about this before Larry. It's kind of shocking.
It's idiotic bordering on retarded.
Actually it's a British law, the government has repeatedly warned that anyone travelling to join a foreign conflict may be prosecuted. The YPG are not considered a military organization, and Turkey considers them a terrorist group.