LONDON: A man charged in connection with the kidnapping of two Western journalists by Islamic extremists in Syria will go on trial with another suspect in June, he was told when he appeared in a British court Thursday.
Jubayer Chowdhury, 24, of no fixed address, appeared by videolink at the Old Bailey, the central criminal court in London, and was remanded in custody for a preliminary hearing in April.
He will be tried with a British trainee doctor, Shajul Islam, 26, on a charge of imprisoning a British photographer and a Dutch journalist against their will in July while they were covering the Syrian conflict.
The trial will start at the Old Bailey on June 5 and is expected to last six weeks.
Chowdhury was arrested by counterterrorism police at London’s Heathrow Airport last month after arriving on a flight from Bahrain.
Islam was detained at Heathrow in October after arriving on a flight from Egypt.