The Berlin-based think tank "Counter Extremism Project" (CEP) also reports on the case in a recent policy paper on the situation of detainees in north-east Syria. According to the paper, the man had been married to a German woman who has since returned to Germany and been convicted according to Islamic rites. Analyst Sofia Koller, one of the authors of the paper, told SWR: "The fact that a second German apparently died in Kurdish captivity not only shows the poor prison conditions on the ground, but also the extensive inaction of German authorities." For example, Mohammad A.'s family was apparently only informed of his death a year later. The first death in prison in north-east Syria had already become known in 2020 thanks to a report in the Bild newspaper.

However, the results of a study by terrorism researcher Sofia Koller of the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) suggest that many of those affected have been trying to return to Germany for years. Lydia G. is also said to have had a change of heart; she wants to return to Germany. Whether and when a trial against the IS returnee will begin is not yet known.

"Exit programs would generally work well in Germany, says Sofia Koller from the Counter Extremism Project (CEP). She has been researching how to deal with IS returnees for years. She warns that exit processes do not work linearly. Time and again, life crises could drive former extremists to radical ideology."

"The reality probably lies somewhere in between, says Sofia Koller, a senior research analyst at the Counter Extremism Project, a non-profit organisation in New York.
'It would be wrong to say they were all naive, but also wrong to say they all knew exactly what they were doing,' she told The National. ...
'In one case in court, a Yazidi woman gave a horrifying account. Then the defendant said something like: I’m sorry I called you a slave girl. But I didn’t really hear her say: I’m sorry about what happened to you and your people and how I contributed to that,' Ms Koller said."