Iraq sentences 15 Turkish women to death over ties with the Islamic State

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi criminal court sentenced 15 Turkish women to death after finding them guilty of having links to the Islamic State (IS), a judicial official reported on Sunday.

Another Turkish woman, accused of membership in the jihadist group,   was given a life sentence, a statement issued by the court added.

On Thursday, the Iraqi government handed over to the Russian government four women and 27 children with links to the IS, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry had then revealed.

Baghdad is currently conducting trials for hundreds of foreign women and children who have been detained by Iraqi forces during military operations to liberate the country from the jihadist group over the past year.

Following the emergence of IS in Iraq and Syria in 2014, thousands of foreign nationals joined the jihadist group. Accompanying them were women who came from different parts of the world.

Iraq declared victory over IS in December 2017 after years of fierce fighting against the jihadist group. Since then, Iraqi courts have begun prosecuting foreign IS militants.

According to Iraq’s counterterrorism law, aiding or membership to the extremist group carries the penalty of life in prison or death.

Baghdad’s Criminal Court since the beginning of 2018 has sentenced two women to death for joining IS: a German and a Turkish woman. The same court on Sunday also sentenced nine Turkish women and one Azeri woman to life in prison, with the possibility of an appeal for all verdicts.

Editing by Nadia Riva