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The widow of former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi has been sentenced to death by an Iraqi court for her involvement in the terrorist organization, including the imprisonment and enslavement of Yazidi women.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Judicial Council of Iraq announced that the woman, currently in custody, received the death sentence under the nation’s anti-terrorism law. The court found her guilty of collaborating with ISIS and using her residence in Mosul to imprison Yazidi women who were subsequently taken by ISIS fighters in Sinjar, northern Iraq. Although the court did not disclose her name, a judicial official identified her as Asma Mohamed.
The ruling, which includes the method of execution as “death by hanging,” must be ratified by an Iraqi appeals court to become final. This verdict comes roughly five years after US special forces killed al-Baghdadi, who had declared a “caliphate” across large areas of Iraq and Syria.
More on the Yazidis:
The Yazidis, a religious minority in Iraq and Syria, were persecuted during ISIS’s rise beginning in 2014. ISIS executed thousands of Yazidi men and older women, kidnapped and enslaved women and children, and coerced forced conversions under threat of death. The violence displaced hundreds of thousands, many of whom were trapped on Mount Sinjar, creating a humanitarian crisis. Additionally, ISIS destroyed numerous Yazidi temples and holy sites.
Since ISIS was expelled from Iraqi territories in 2017, Iraqi courts have issued numerous death sentences and life imprisonments to those convicted of terrorist group membership, including over 500 foreigners.
