Iraqi court sentences 16 Turkish women to death for joining ISIS

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - A court in Iraq has sentenced more than a dozen Turkish women to death over membership in the ISIS Takfiri terrorist group and involvement in acts of terror across the conflict-ridden Arab country.

Abdul Sattar al-Biraqdar, spokesman for the Supreme Judicial Council, said the Central Criminal Court sentenced 16 female Turkish citizens to death after they confessed to marrying ISIS elements or providing members of the group with logistical aid or helping them carry out terrorist attacks.

On February 22, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network quoted Iraq’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Mahjoub as saying that Iraqi authorities had extradited four women and 27 children from the families of ISIS Takfiri terrorists to Russian officials.

“There was no proof that those extradited had been involved in terrorist operations against Iraqi civilians or security forces,” Mahjoub said, adding, “They will be prosecuted in Russia for illegally entering Iraq.”

Iraq’s Arabic-language al-Mashriq newspaper has reported that more than 1,500 women and children from the families of ISIS militants are currently being held in the country, and that the Baghdad government is coordinating with their respective countries to decide their fate.

Iraqi government spokesman Saad al-Hadithi has stated, “All foreign nationals who have committed crimes and acts of terror against Iraqi people, either directly or through support for ISIS terrorists, will be subject to the Iraqi law.”

He added, “This also applies to foreign women of ISIS militants. The government is coordinating with the countries to which the detainees belong. They will be handed over to their respective countries once they are found not to have committed criminal acts or engaged in killings and bombings in Iraq.”

Last month, Iraq’s Central Criminal Court issued a death penalty by hanging for a German citizen of Moroccan origin in accordance with Anti-Terrorism Law.

Biraqdar said the woman, whose identity was not disclosed, had confessed during investigations that she traveled from Germany to Syria and then to Iraq, because she had a strong belief in ISIS.

The German citizen was accompanied with her two daughters, who later married members of ISIS terrorist group.

“The woman is accused of providing logistical support to the terrorist organization, and helped them commit their criminal acts. She is also convicted of complicity in attacking Iraqi security forces,” Biraqdar said.



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