Iraq sentences French man, German woman to life for IS-membership
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An Iraqi court yesterday sentenced a French man and a German woman to life in prison in the latest punishments handed down for belonging to Islamic State jihadist group. Frenchman Lahcen Gueboudj, 58, and a German woman whose name was given only as Nadia were sentenced separately at Baghdad Central Criminal Court. An Iraqi man was sentenced to death by the court for IS-membership.
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Over 300 people have been sentenced to death
More than 300 people including around 100 foreigners have been sentenced to death for belonging to IS, while at least the same number have received life terms, Iraqi judicial sources have said.
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Traveled from Syria to Iraq to run-away from IS: Nadia
Nadia's mother, a German woman of Moroccan origin, was sentenced to death in January for IS membership but the sentence was later commuted to life. The mother and daughter were arrested in July'17 in Mosul, the jihadists' former de-facto capital where the government declared victory over IS in Dec'17. Nadia said she traveled from Syria to Iraq "to run away from the IS".
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Nadia was a minor when she married IS-jihadist: Nadia's lawyer
Speaking in German with a few Arabic words, Nadia said she traveled to Syria from Turkey with her mother, her daughter Yamana, and her mentally-disabled sister who was killed in a bombardment. Nadia's lawyer stressed that she was a minor at the time and that her marriage to an IS jihadist in Syria was "not a decision taken by an adult in full conscience".
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My eldest son had gone to Syria: French defendant
The French defendant, meanwhile, refuted earlier statements in which he purportedly admitted to pledging allegiance to IS and undertaking training with jihadists. "I signed confessions in Arabic without knowing what was written," said Gueboudj. "I would never have left France, if my eldest son Nabil hadn't gone to Syria," he said. "I wanted to convince him to return with us to France," added Gueboudj.
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Number of Europeans were jailed for IS membership
Gueboudj traveled with his wife and children to Turkey before entering Syria, telling the court he was detained by Syrian rebels and transferred to Iraq. A number of Europeans have been jailed in Iraq for IS membership since the collapse of the jihadists' self-declared "caliphate".