( CNN ) A Belgian court convicted the leader of an Islamist group and several of his followers on terror charges Wednesday for sending jihadist fighters to Syria , in a case in which 46 people were accused . Fouad Belkacem , the leader of the Sharia4Belgium group , was jailed for 12 years by the court in the city of Antwerp , a spokeswoman for the prosecutor 's office , Fabienne Nackaerts , told CNN . Of the 46 people accused in the case , 36 could not be found and their arrests were ordered in their absence , a news release from the Antwerp court said . Of the 10 who appeared in court , one was acquitted . Most of those who could not be found are thought to be still fighting in Syria or to have died there . Those accused of being leaders in the terror group were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison and fines of 24,000 to 30,000 euros ( $ 27,170 to $ 33,940 ) , the court said . Those accused of active membership of Sharia4Belgium without leadership roles were given lesser sentences . The offenses were committed in Antwerp and Brussels in Belgium as well as in Syria and Turkey between 2010 and 2014 , the court said . The court `` also established that Sharia4Belgium has played an active role in the departure of several Syria fighters , '' it said . Radical British preacher Anjem Choudary 's name was mentioned several times by the prosecutor during the Antwerp trial as having helped Belkacem set up Sharia4Belgium . Choudary acknowledged to CNN that Belkacem had consulted with him in 2010 on establishing the group , whose name refers to Sharia , or Islamic , law . Speaking after the sentence Wednesday , Choudary said : `` I believe nowadays in Europe if you call for Sharia you are considered to be guilty . Abu Imran ( an alias for Belkacem ) was just doing his Islamic responsibility . `` In 2010 he came to see me and he asked about how to set up a branch of our own body that we had in Britain . Sharia4 Belgium was under our own guidance . Abu Imran helped set up branches in Holland and France . `` I am extremely proud and I love Abu Imran and all the members of Sharia4Belgium . '' Choudary , who was a co-founder of the banned UK Islamist group Al Muhajiroun , told CNN last August that he believed the ISIS extremist group would spread rapidly and be in Europe and the United States within decades . As of September , 350 Belgian citizens were known to have traveled to Syria and Iraq to join Islamist extremist groups fighting there , the Belgian Interior Ministry said then . Given Belgium 's relatively small Muslim population , this is a high number , compared with other European nations that have seen radicalized citizens head overseas to fight . Authorities fear some who return will seek to carry out attacks motivated by jihadist ideas . Belgian authorities last month carried out a series of counter-terror raids on a suspected jihadist cell amid fears that its members were plotting an imminent attack on Belgian soil . A federal prosecutor said they planned to target police officers . Toxic mix that makes Belgium fertile ground for terrorism . CNN 's Laura Perez Maestro and Atika Shubert contributed to this report .
Radical UK preacher Anjem Choudary says convicted leader was just doing his Islamic duty . Fouad Belkacem , the leader of the Sharia4Belgium group , is jailed for 12 years . Several of his followers were also convicted on terror charges , the prosecutor 's office says .