AN Iraqi court has sentenced the wife of the late Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to death, according to Reuters. The woman, who remains unnamed, was convicted for her involvement with the terrorist group and for holding Yazidi women captive in her home.
The Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council reported that the Yazidi women were initially abducted by Islamic State militants in the Sinjar district of Nineveh Governorate before being imprisoned in the woman’s house in Mosul.
A court official, speaking anonymously to Reuters due to lack of authorization, stated, “The criminal court today sentenced Baghdadi’s wife to death by hanging for crimes against humanity and genocide against the Yazidi people and also for contributing to terrorism actions.”
The death sentence must still be confirmed by an Iraqi appeals court to become final and enforceable, the official added.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who was killed in a U.S. special forces raid in northwestern Syria in November 2019, had risen from relative obscurity to lead the extremist group. He declared himself the “caliph” of all Muslims and controlled vast areas of Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2017 before the Islamic State’s power crumbled under U.S.-led military operations.
The convicted woman is currently in Iraqi custody.
