The Baghdad Criminal Court issued a life sentence for three French suspects named Charlie S., Kamal M., and Amir A. This sentence means 20 years in prison in Iraq. These three were tried for membership in the terrorist group ISIS, and on Tuesday, six other French citizens from the same group were also sentenced to life imprisonment, while another was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Developments Regarding French Citizens
All French citizens who have been tried so far are part of a group of 47 individuals who were transferred from detention in Syria to Iraq last year. These individuals are being prosecuted for joining a group that has been conducting terrorist activities in Iraq and Syria since 2014, led by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
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Crimes of the ISIS Group
The ISIS group has committed horrific crimes in an attempt to establish a self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria. Among these crimes is the enslavement and murder of thousands of Yazidis in the Sinjar region of Iraq. Many Yazidi women and children were forced into sexual slavery and other forms of servitude. Additionally, in 2014, ISIS killed hundreds of Iraqi military students at the Spiker Camp in Tikrit, much of this massacre was filmed and shared on social media.
The terrorist group ISIS also executed several journalists and Western humanitarian aid workers in a series of highly orchestrated videos. These actions were part of ISIS's media campaign.
With the support of U.S.-led forces, Iraq declared victory over ISIS in 2017 and, along with the Syrian Democratic Forces, succeeded in defeating this group in Syria in the following two years. Ultimately, the last ISIS fighters were besieged and defeated in March 2019 in Baghouz in the Deir ez-Zor province of Syria, near the Iraqi border.
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