Iraqi court sentences 11 ISIS members to death for terrorist acts in Babil
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq’s Babil Criminal Court on Wednesday announced it had sentenced 11 members of the Islamic State to death for their involvement in exploding a strategic bridge in the Iraqi province.
The members confessed their membership to the jihadist group and participating in a terrorist act in Babil (Babylon) Province, the Court’s press office stated.
“The terrorists confessed to carrying out an attack they called ‘Invading Fadhliya,’ on a strategic bridge in the area of Jurf al-Nasr, north of the province, in 2014, which ended with a full explosion and led to the death of three people, wounding 19 security members stationed nearby,” read the statement.
It also mentioned that experts had estimated the cost and value of the destroyed bridge at about 18 billion Iraqi dinars (US $15 million).
In addition to Babil, the Islamic State members admitted to committing other terrorist acts in other locations at different times.
“The sentence for the convicts is handed down in accordance with the provisions of Article IV/1 of the Anti-Terrorism Law,” the statement added.
Since 2017, the Iraqi judiciary had issued death sentences and life in prison for hundreds of alleged Islamic State members, among them, foreign nationals.
The country has been highly criticized for its implementation of capital punishment in recent years. The death penalty in Iraq was suspended on June 10, 2003, but was reinstated the following year.
International groups and human rights organizations, including the United Nations and Human Rights Watch, say efforts by Iraqi authorities to accelerate the implementation of death sentences could lead to the execution of innocent people, pointing to major flaws endemic to the nation’s deficient criminal justice system.
Editing by Nadia Riva