Iraq hands death sentence to terrorist who partook in Shingal massacre

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – An Iraqi Criminal Court on Wednesday sentenced to death by hanging a member of the Islamic State (IS) who admitted to having taken part in the murder of Yezidis (Ezidis) in the Nineveh Province.

“The convicted man had confessed to the killing of many civilian men and women in the Sinjar (Shingal) district as well as fighting against the security and military forces in Mosul,” the Iraqi Higher Judicial Council’s spokesperson, Judge Abdul-Sattar Birqdar, said in a statement.

In IS’ August 2014 invasion of the predominantly Ezidi-inhabited town of Shingal, over 15,000 people were killed or abducted, and nearly 50,000 displaced from their homes.

Though it has been years since IS’ ouster, a severe lack of essential services, stability, and government efforts to revitalize the region have kept its population from returning to their homes.

“The second body in the Nineveh Criminal Court sentenced to death” the IS member “who was known as al-Muhajir,” Birqdar noted.

At the end of June, based upon the directive of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the government executed12 convicted terrorists in response to IS’ abduction, murder, mutilation, and later dumping of Iraqi self-described security forces.

A week before Baghdad’s action, IS released a video showing the abducted security personnel and gave the government a six-day deadline to release female prisoners affiliated with the organization.

Last month, Brigadier-General Yahya Rasool, a spokesperson for the Iraqi army’s Joint Operations Command (JOC), said he had seen the IS video, released on June 23, and claimed authorities were working on finding the location of the hostages.

In the end, Baghdad’s promised efforts failed as the bodies of the abductees were found on the road connecting Kirkuk to the capital.

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

“The court issued its decision to hang to death the accused under the provisions of Article 4/1 of [Iraq’s] anti-terrorism law,” spokesperson Birqdar concluded.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany