Iraq sentences 19 Russian women to life in jail after freeing German IS brides

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi court has sentenced 19 women holding Russian nationality to life in prison, four days after two German women believed to be members of the Islamic State (IS) returned to their home country.

The Iraqi Central Criminal Court issued the sentences on Sunday. There are reportedly 60 Russian women awaiting trial in Iraq for their ties to the extremist group.

Ziyad Sabsabi, a senator and Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Foreign Relations Committee, said the suspects face sentences that could amount to the death penalty, noting that most of the women deny their charges.

However, two German IS women, along with their children, recently returned to Germany after being released from a Kurdistan Region prison.

German newspaper Die Welt said the women returned home on Thursday as there was insufficient evidence to prove their support for the extremist group and justify their ongoing detention in the Kurdish jail.

In contrast, the Iraqi government has been criticized for expediting its trials, which are swift and usually end in a guilty verdict. Iraq considers swearing allegiance to IS as membership to a terrorist group, which under the country’s strict terror law can earn suspects over 15 years in prison, a life sentence, or the death penalty.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has repeatedly called for trials of individuals accused of participating in IS activities to be sped up in the run-up to the elections that will take place on May 12.

Iraqi courts recently sentenced 212 people to death in Mosul and surrounding areas, most of them for membership to the extremist group.

International humanitarian organizations, including the United Nations, say efforts by Iraqi authorities to speed up the implementation of death sentences could lead to the execution of innocent people.

Critics say the country’s flawed and confession-based criminal justice system in which torture is routinely used to extract confessions is incompatible with a sentence such as capital punishment.

Last year, Iraqi forces arrested tens of thousands of those accused of being IS members and affiliates, most of whom await sentencing.

The death penalty in Iraq was suspended on June 10, 2003, but was reinstated the following year.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany