Cologne – Six months after he was arrested for planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Europe, Germany began on Friday the trial of a Syrian, who is accused of belonging to the ISIS terror group.

The Syrian, 38, is charged with plotting to stage terror attacks in Germany and neighboring countries. The attacks would have taken place in several German cities, including Berlin, Stuttgart, Munich, Essen and Dortmund.

He is also accused of asking the group for funding to stage his assaults.

The defendant’s lawyer meanwhile denied the charges, saying that his client tricked ISIS into believing that he was joining the group in order to use the funds for himself.

According to the prosecution, the suspect contacted in late 2016 a man via Facebook who is believed to be an ISIS member. The man was allegedly able to secure 180,000 euros to carry out bombings in Europe. The suspect ultimately never received any funds.

The suspect refused to comment on the accusations against him.

The Saarbrucken court has set eight trial sessions until mid-August.

The Syrian was arrested in early January on charges of collecting donations for ISIS in the Saarland region in order to stage attacks in Germany.