SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Iraq condemns eighth French IS member to death
Baghdad, June 2 (AFP) Jun 02, 2019
An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced to death an eighth Frenchman for joining the Islamic State group, rejecting his claims he was tortured into confessing.

Fodil Tahar Aouidate, 32, first appeared in court on May 27 but a judge delayed his trial to allow for a medical examination.

"The medical report shows that there are no signs of torture on his body," the judge told the court.

Aouidate showed no reaction when the judge handed down his death sentence, according to an AFP journalist at the trial.

He was one of 11 French citizens and a Tunisian handed over to Iraqi authorities early this year by a US-backed force in Syria which expelled the jihadist group from its last bastion.

A Baghdad court had already handed capital punishments to seven of the French jihadists and the Tunisian over the past week and Aouidate will now join them on death row.

Interrogated for four months, Aouidate alleged he was beaten to "confess" to the charges levelled against him.

During his first hearing he showed marks on his back to the judge, who requested a medical examination and report.

Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Iraqi interrogators of "using a range of torture techniques" and condemned France's "outsourcing" of trials of IS suspects to "abusive justice systems".

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.

Iraqi law provides for the death penalty for anyone joining a "terrorist group" -- even those who did not take up arms.

Aouidate first went to Syria in 2013 and returned in 2014 with 22 members of his family to join IS, according to the French judiciary.

Authorities also linked him to Belgium's Salafist movement including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the presumed mastermind of the 2015 Paris attacks.

France convicted two of Aouidate's sisters for "financing terrorism" for sending 15,000 euros to relatives in Syria.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Maven stays silent after routine pass behind Mars
Sun boundary map tracks shifting Alfven surface over solar cycle
Mission Space to fly second space weather payload with Rogue Space

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Molecular contacts push tandem solar cells to 31.4 percent efficiency
Asymmetric side chain design boosts thick film organic solar cell efficiency
New analysis links lead cooled reactor corrosion to steel microstructure

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Autonomous DARPA project to expand satellite surveillance network by BAE Systems
Momentus joins US Space Force SHIELD contract vehicle
IAEA calls for repair work on Chernobyl sarcophagus

24/7 News Coverage
UAlbany Atmospheric Scientist Proposes Innovative Method to Reduce Aviation's Climate Impact
Digital twin successfully launched and deployed into space
Robots that spare warehouse workers the heavy lifting



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.