Iraq: 19 Russian women sentenced to life for participating in Islamic State

Baghdad's Central Criminal Court, which has jurisdiction over terrorism cases, on Sunday sentenced 19 Russian women to life in prison on charges of joining the Islamic State (IS) organization.

The women, all present at the hearing, were found guilty at first instance of "accusing and supporting the IC", the president of the court stressed, reciting the verdict.

In addition to the 19 Russian women, six women from Azerbaijan and four from Tajikistan, who faced the same charge, were also sentenced to life in prison.

The Islamic State (ISIS) captured almost a third of Iraqi territory in 2014, launching a lightning strike, taking control of, among others, Mosul, Iraq's second largest city. The jihadists have since been driven out of Iraqi-held territory with the support - mainly from the air - of the US-led international coalition.

Many foreigners and many foreigners accused of having ties to the IC have recently been tried in Iraq.

Dressed in black, with scarves of the same color and a pink jacket, the defendants attended the hearing with their children, according to a French Agency journalist who attended the trial.

They communicated with the court through a translator, a professor of Russian at the University of Baghdad.

"I did not know we were in Iraq. "My husband and children and I had gone to Turkey to live there and then I suddenly discovered that we were actually in Iraq," said one of the defendants. The same argument was put forward by other defendants.

The judge clarified that one of the accused, Mariana, was a Christian who converted to Islam like her husband. The rest were Muslims.

"We will contact the parents to inform them of the verdict," a Russian diplomat present in court told AFP.

Convicts have the right to appeal.

Source