France backs Iraq court but opposes death sentences for Isis members

French embassy says it will take 'necessary steps' to appeal death sentences

Anthony Cuthbertson
Paris
Monday 27 May 2019 16:59 BST
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An Iraqi member of the Hashed al-Shaabi carries an upsidedown Islamic State (IS) group flag in the city of al-Qaim, Iraq on 3 November, 2017
An Iraqi member of the Hashed al-Shaabi carries an upsidedown Islamic State (IS) group flag in the city of al-Qaim, Iraq on 3 November, 2017

France has accepted the jurisdiction of an Iraqi court which has sentenced four French citizens to death for belonging to Isis, but stressed that it opposes the death penalty.

A spokesperson for France's foreign affairs minister, Agnes von der Muhll, said Isis "terrorists must answer for their crimes in court", but added that the French embassy in Iraq was "taking the necessary steps to convey its position to the Iraq authorities".

The four were the first French Isis members to receive death sentences in Iraq, where they were transferred for trial from neighbouring Syria.

A Baghdad court postponed the verdict for a fifth man after he testified to being tortured in detention.

Ms von der Muhll said France's position is that adults detained in Iraq must be tried by the Iraqi justice system, as soon as it declares itself competent.

She added that France "respects the sovereignty of Iraqi authorities" though she expressed her country's opposition to the death penalty, "in principle, at all times and in all places".

Earlier, an Iraqi judicial official said the four were among 12 French citizens whom the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces handed over to Iraq in January. The Kurdish-led group spearheads the fight against Isis in Syria and has handed over to Iraq hundreds of suspected Isis members in recent months.

The convicted French militants can appeal against the sentences within a month.

Iraqi president Barham Saleh said during a visit to Paris in February that the 12 would be prosecuted in accordance with Iraqi laws. In March, prime minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi asserted Iraq's authority to try foreign Isis suspects detained in Syria because "the battlefields were one".

The trials of the French nationals in Baghdad raise the difficult question of whether foreign Isis suspects should be tried and punished in the country of their alleged crimes, even when there are serious doubts about the impartiality of the courts in Iraq and Syria.

Human rights groups including Human Rights Watch have criticised Iraq's handling of Isis trials, accusing authorities of relying on circumstantial evidence and often extracting confessions under torture.

The thousands of men and women who came from around the world to join the self-styled Islamic caliphate have been left in limbo following the group's territorial defeat earlier this year in Syria.

Iraqi prosecutors say the 12 French nationals are accused of belonging to Isis, were parties or accomplices to its crimes, and threatened the national security of Iraq. Simply belonging to the extremist group is punishable by life in prison or execution under Iraq's counter-terrorism laws.

More than 500 suspected foreign Isis members have been tried in Iraq since the start of 2018.

Additional reporting by agencies.

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