German IS teen escapes death penalty, receives six years in Iraqi prison

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – A German teenager who joined the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq has escaped the death penalty and received six years in prison instead, German media reported on Sunday.

Linda Wenzel, a 17-year-old German national, will not be executed but will serve five years for joining a terrorist organization and an extra year for illegally entering Iraq, Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.

Representatives of the German Embassy in Baghdad were present at Wenzel’s trial which took place behind closed doors due to her age.

When she was captured by Iraqi forces in Mosul last year, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi had said the teenager would answer for her crimes and could face the death penalty.

“Teenagers under certain laws are accountable for their actions especially if the act is a criminal activity when it amounts to killing innocent people,” Abadi said in an interview with the Associated Press.

Wenzel was arrested after Iraqi soldiers discovered her along with 19 other female IS supporters from various countries hiding inside a tunnel.

At the time of her arrest, the 17-year-old—who was 16 when she was detained—seemed unaware of the severity of her crimes.

“I want to go home to my family,” she told reporters. “I want to get out of the war, away from the weapons, the noise.”

In 2016, the German teen left her hometown of Pulsnitz, near Dresden, in Germany before traveling to Turkey and then Syria to join IS.

It is unclear what her role within the militant group was, with some Iraqi security forces suggesting Wenzel worked for IS’ “moral police” where she was responsible for ensuring women adhered to a strict dress code.

In many cases, those who violated IS’ strict dress code were whipped and sometimes killed.

Earlier this year, an Iraqi court sentenced to death a 50-year-old German woman who was found guilty of joining IS.