The family of the Johannesburg twins arrested on terrorism charges insist that they had no intention of joining Isis, but had planned to immigrate to Syria.
Brandon-Lee Thulsie and his brother, Toni-Lee, appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrates Court on Monday following their arrest by the Hawks over the weekend.
Advocacy organisation Cage Africa is now speaking on behalf of the family – its spokesperson, Karen Jayes, says the brothers did not want to join Isis.
“They were stopped from travelling to Syria, they did not want to join Isis. They wanted to immigrate to Syria in order to live under an Islamic system.”
At the same time, questions have emerged as to the whereabouts of Brandon-Lee in the lead up to his arrest, after it emerged that he was absent from work for about two weeks prior to being detained.
The family says he took leave to go on spiritual retreat.