UK to charge ex-Daesh fighters for ‘conflict selfies’ with dead bodies

Ex-Daesh fighters could face prosecution for gruesome “conflict selfies” with severed heads and dead bodies, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has said.

Daesh terrorists have been known to photograph themselves with mutilated dead bodies to post on social media channels, with authorities seeking to charge them for that on top of other terror offences.

Recently arrested Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary, notoriously known as Daesh executioner “Jihadi John”, was a particular fan of the gory tradition, and infamously posted a photo of himself posing with a beheaded victim of Daesh.

The now 29-year-old walked out of his parents’ million-pound Maida Vale home to join the militant group in 2013, leaving behind his budding career as an aspiring rapper.

READ: Eurojust calls for Daesh returnees to be charged with war crimes

The CPS has admitted it has not yet managed to prosecute any of the 400 returned Daesh fighters for war crimes or terrorism “solely on the basis of an image” yet.

European Union prosecutors are also looking into how to deal with ex-Jihadist foreign fighters, including charging them with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Daesh militants have been reported to be partake in particularly grisly sports with the recently executed, including “playing football” with a severed head during a particularly brutal raid in Syria’s Yarmouk.

Sixteen-year-old Amjad told the Daily Mail: “I saw two members of Daesh playing with a severed head as if it was a football. Wearing a baseball cap sideways, rapper-style, the youth has a swollen eye and chin.”

READ: ‘Significant progress’ in UN effort to prosecute Daesh fighters for crimes against humanity

“Daesh came to my home looking for my brother who’s in the Palestinian Popular Committees. They beat me until I passed out and left me for dead.”

The same assault saw children being murdered in front of their parents and beating people unconscious.

Over 400 Daesh fighters have returned to the UK from conflict zones such as Syria and Iraq.