16 Turkish Women Sentenced to Death For Joining ISIS

An Iraqi court has sentenced 16 Turkish women to death for joining the terrorist group ISIS. Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council said the women had confessed to marrying IS terrorists and giving them logistical support.

The Iraqi authorities are taking strict action against people joining the IS. Last week, the court issued a death penalty for a female Turkish citizen and 10 other life terms for women from different countries.

The women were aged between 20 and 50 and were dressed in black. They appeared in the central criminal court and had children with them. Over 1,500 foreign women and children from the families of ISIS terrorists are being held by the Iraqi authorities. They are coordinating with the countries of origin to decide their fate

Spokesperson Saad al-Hadithi said, "Foreign nationals who committed crimes and violations against the people of Iraq, whether directly or by supporting the terrorist IS militants, will be subject to the Iraqi law."

"This also applies to foreign women (of IS families) who committed such actions inside the Iraqi territories," Hadithi said.

The Human Rights Watch has said women are receiving unfair trials due to their collusion with ISIS.

"In these cases, the women are getting the harshest possible sentences for what appears to be marriage to an ISIS member or a coerced border crossing. The Iraqi courts need to redirect their priorities," said Belkis Wille, a senior Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch. Wille's statement was released last week.

The Iraqi court said the death sentence of the 16 Turkish women can be appealed.

Iraqi forces defeated the ISIS in Iraq in 2017, and then hundreds of ISIS loyalists were killed or captured. The group has been driven out of all population centres it once controlled on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border

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Photo Credit- Al jazeera