Death row: is France ‘outsourcing’ trials of Islamic State jihadists to Iraq?
- Iraq has convicted more than 500 suspected foreign members of IS since the start of 2018, sentencing nine from France to death
- France has long insisted its adult citizens captured in Iraq or Syria must face trial before local courts, while stressing its opposition to capital punishment
A Baghdad court on Monday sentenced to death two more French nationals for belonging to the Islamic State group, leaving all 11 Frenchmen transferred from Syria facing the gallows in Iraq.
Fodil Tahar Aouidate and Vianney Ouraghi were among the 11 French citizens and one Tunisian handed over to Iraqi authorities in January by a US-backed force fighting the jihadist group in Syria.
Described as violent and ready to die for the extremist IS ideology, Aouidate first appeared in court on May 27 but a judge delayed his trial and ordered a medical examination after the 32-year-old claimed he was tortured into confessing.
“The medical report shows that there are no signs of torture on his body,” the judge told the court before handing down his sentence.
His trial was quickly followed by that of 28-year-old Ouraghi, who acknowledged in court that he “worked with” IS but said he did not participate in any fighting.
Baghdad has handed capital punishments to seven of the other French jihadists and the Tunisian in the past week.