French jihadist Melina Bugendir has been sentenced to life in prison

French jihadist Melina Bougentir was sentenced today to life in prison by an Iraqi court for joining Islamic State.

In February, the same court sentenced 27-year-old Bougentir to seven months in prison and demanded her deportation to France. The judges then ruled that the only charge against her was "illegal entry" into Iraq and asked that she be released as she had already spent seven months in prison.

But the Iraqi court of appeals has called for a new trial against Bougainville, this time under the anti-terrorism law, which provides for the death penalty for anyone found guilty of belonging to a terrorist organization, whether a fighter or not.

Bougainville's French lawyer, William Bourdon, who is in Baghdad, said today, shortly before the announcement of the court ruling, that "there are many questions about the pressure allegedly exerted by France in order to have a new trial".

On Thursday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called Bougdereau a "Daesh terrorist who had fought against Iraq" and called on the Iraqi judiciary to try her, but stressed the opposite. .

The young Frenchwoman's family and lawyers are seeking her return to her homeland, where a "judge has informed her through an arrest warrant that she wants to see her in his office," Bourdon said.

French authorities have issued an arrest warrant against Bougainville as part of an investigation launched in Paris on August 2, 2016 for "setting up a criminal, terrorist organization", according to a judicial source.

Bougentir was arrested in the summer of 2017 in Mosul, the former Iraqi capital of Iraq, along with her four children, three of whom have now been repatriated. At the same time, her husband, also a Frenchman, was reportedly killed. The court of appeals ruled today that the young woman had followed her husband to Iraq knowingly.

Another French jihadist, Jamila Bhutto, 29, was sentenced on April 17 to life in prison for joining Islamic State. She states that she was deceived by her husband.

More than 280 foreign jihadists have been sentenced to death or life in prison by Baghdad courts since the beginning of the year.

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