PARIS (AP) — A judge has filed preliminary charges against three suspected French jihadis who went to Syria and returned home after turning themselves in to Turkish border police.

The Paris prosecutor’s office said Abdelouahab El Baghdadi, Imad Djebali and Gael Maurize were placed under investigation Saturday for criminal association involving a terror group.

Djebali’s lawyer, Pierre Dunac, told The Associated Press that three returned after growing disillusioned about jihadist groups — including their mistreatment of civilians. He said they denied having terrorism plans in France.

The three went free this week because of a botched transfer between Turkish and French police, but turned themselves in Wednesday.

El Baghdadi is a brother-in-law of Mohamed Merah, a jihadi who killed seven people in southern France in 2012 before dying in a shootout with police.

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