Two Syrians who were arrested in Italy as they were about to embark on a flight to Malta last week testified in an Italian court today that they were fleeing from the Islamic State.

One of them, Alali Faowaz, 30, said he had had been whipped 100 times.

Faowaz and Hazem Alhamed, 19, were caught in Bergamo airport, Italy, last week, as they tried to come to Malta using fake documents.

Faowaz said he suffered at the hands of the Islamic State when jihadists took over the town of Raqqa in Syria. He had returned to Raqqa after living for two years in Greece, where he also played for an amateur football team, he said.

Forced to work as a police officer, he said he was later accused of corruption and sentenced to a fine and 100 lashes.

Hazem said he escaped from the village where he lived before the jihadists arrived and went to live in Saudi Arabia for two years.

He first went via Turkey and then to the Balkans where he requested political asylum. Hazem said he wanted to reach Malta to meet a brother and work.

The two have been remanded in custody. The court will deliver the sentence on 17 December.

The Maltese government said since it reimposed border controls it had uncovered a racket of migrant smuggling to Malta.