Iraq sentences to death German woman who joined IS

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced a German woman to death after she was found guilty of belonging to the Islamic State (IS).

The Supreme Judicial Council on its website said that the Central Criminal Court had examined the case of a German national of “Moroccan descent” and had sentenced the woman to death by hanging “in accordance with Iraqi anti-terrorism law.”

According to the statement, the woman confessed to having traveled from Germany to Syria and then to Iraq as a member of IS. The woman was accompanied by her two daughters who also married members of the jihadist group, and was caught by Iraqi forces during the battle for Mosul.

The name of the defendant was not released, but the statement elaborated that she was convicted of “providing logistical support, helping a terrorist organization and participating in attacks against Iraqi security forces.”

The decision by the court in Baghdad is expected to provoke a reaction from Berlin, which has called on more than one occasion for Iraqi authorities to abolish the death penalty. She is the first foreign woman to be sentenced to death in Iraq for joining the militant group.

Late last year, Iraq executed 38 people, including a man of Syrian nationality, the largest number of people executed by the Iraqi government in a single day since Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced the “final victory” against the Islamic State (IS) in the country.

A day later, the Swedish Foreign Ministry condemned the execution of a Swedish citizen of Iraqi origin and summoned the Iraqi ambassador to protest the decision.

The number of detainees held in Iraqi prisons is unknown. The number of those likely to face the same fate also remains unspecified.

Most controversially, Linda Wenzel, a German teenager who joined IS and was also captured in Mosul, was warned she would have to answer for her crimes and is likely to face the death penalty by the Iraqi Prime Minister himself.

According to Iraqi counter-terrorism laws, the teenager could face the death penalty, but only after she turns 22.

Amnesty International frequently condemned Iraq’s mass executions and allege that confessions are occasionally taken from prisoners through the use of threats and torture.

Other human rights groups, including the United Nations, say efforts by Iraqi authorities to speed up the implementation of death sentences can lead to the execution of innocent people.

Thousands of IS suspects have been captured, imprisoned, and put on trial as the extremist group’s influence in Iraq and Syria has slowly diminished since its emergence in 2014.

Over 200 suspects have been sentenced, and more than 92 executed in Iraq, Human Rights Watch organization reported.