This ISIS Defector Said He Was an Innocent Bystander. A New Video Questions His Story.

Souad Mekhennet wrote for the Washington Post about Harry Sarfo, an ISIS defector who claimed to be an innocent bystander:

Since his arrest on terrorism charges, German militant Harry Sarfo has been an unusually talkative Islamic State recruit, granting interviews from prison that were carried on front pages and news broadcasts across Europe and the United States.

German authorities permitted the access to Sarfo, whose story seemed to represent such a cautionary tale. He described atrocities he witnessed in Syria and the Islamic State’s efforts to enlist him for plots in Europe, always emphasizing that he spurned these approaches before making an improbable escape.

But in depicting himself as a disillusioned fighter who refused to commit violence, Sarfo left out some potentially incriminating scenes.