Iraq sentences 3 French nationals to 20 years in prison for Islamic State membership

An Iraqi court on Thursday sentenced three French nationals to life imprisonment, equivalent to 20 years in prison, for membership of the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.

The ruling by the Third Karkh Criminal Court in Baghdad applies to Amir Abdelkader, known as Abu Baraa al-Faransi, who was born in the French city of Lille in 1989 and is of Algerian origin; Kamal Habib Ahmed, 42, a French national of Tunisian origin known as Abu Sumayya al-Muhajir; and Charlie Saint-Raymond, 32, who was born in Paris and is of Vietnamese origin and known as Abu Sufyan.

On Tuesday, the same court sentenced six other French members of Islamic State to 20 years in prison and another to 15 years.

The court also heard statements from three other defendants — Ibrahim al-Khalil, Noureddine Abdelkader al-Mansouri and Majid Fatimi Abdelkader — about how they joined the group and the roles and positions they held while operating in Syria.

Two of the defendants are French nationals and the third is Moroccan. The court has set 18 November for the verdict in their cases.

The court began proceedings on 20 September against 47 French nationals accused of belonging to Islamic State, scheduling hearings in stages.

Iraqi lawyers have been appointed to defend the defendants after French lawyers requested by them were unable to attend.