16 Turkish women sentenced to death in Iraq for joining ISIL

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An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced 16 Turkish women to death for joining ISIL, as Iraq tries hundreds of foreign women detained along with their children since August by Iraqi forces.

The central criminal court issued the sentences "after it was proven they belong to the Daesh terrorist group and after they confessed to marrying Daesh elements or providing members of the group with logistical aid or helping them carry out terrorist attacks," said Judge Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, using the Arabic name for ISIL.

All the verdicts are subject to appeal, he told Reuters.

More than 1,500 foreign women and children from the families of ISIL militants are being held by the Iraqi authorities, which are coordinating with the countries of origin to decide their fate, according to media reports.

The vast majority surrendered after government forces expelled the jihadist group from northern Iraq in August.

Saad al-Hadithi, a spokesman of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's media office, confirmed that all "foreign nationals who committed crimes and violations against the people of Iraq, whether directly or by supporting the terrorist IS (ISIL) militants, will be subject to the Iraqi law."

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

Last week, a Turkish woman was sentenced to death and 10 of various nationalities were given life terms, all for allegedly belonging to ISIL.

A German woman was sentenced to death last month for belonging to the group and a Russian fighter was also sentenced to death in Iraq last year for joining the group.

Iraq declared victory in December over ISIL, which had seized control of nearly a third of the country in 2014. But ISIL members have continued to carry out bombings and other attacks in Iraq.

(Cover Photo: Iraqi women and children walk in the streets of Mosul's old city to collect copper from ruins to sell and make some money, on January 9, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Reuters ,Xinhua News Agency