ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug 19 (Reuters) – A U.S. federal decide on Friday sentenced a member of an Islamic State cell generally known as “The Beatles” to life in jail for involvement in a hostage-taking plot that led to the killings of American journalists and support staff in Syria.
Households and pals of the 4 Individuals killed and of different hostages beforehand detained by the militant group seemed on as District Court docket Decide T.S. Ellis sentenced El Shafee Elsheikh, 34, to life with out parole, calling his conduct “horrific, barbaric, brutal and naturally prison.”
A jury in April concluded the previous British citizen was a part of an Islamic State cell, nicknamed “The Beatles” for his or her English accents, that beheaded American hostages in areas of the Center East managed by the militant group. He was discovered responsible on 4 counts of hostage-taking and 4 counts of conspiracy after a two-week trial.
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The victims’ kinfolk and pals sat within the entrance rows of the courtroom and have been visibly shaken throughout the course of the listening to as tears rolled down their eyes and so they consoled one another. Elsheikh was sentenced to eight concurrent life sentences.
On the peak of its energy from 2014-2017, Islamic State dominated over hundreds of thousands of individuals and claimed duty for or impressed assaults in dozens of cities around the globe.
Its chief, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared a caliphate over 1 / 4 of Iraq and Syria in 2014, earlier than he was killed in a raid by U.S. particular forces in Syria in 2019 because the group’s rule collapsed.
Elsheikh, who was born in Sudan and raised in London, was accused of conspiring to kill 4 American hostages: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
Foley and Sotloff, each journalists, and Kassig, an support employee, have been killed in videotaped beheadings. Mueller was raped repeatedly by al-Baghdadi earlier than her loss of life in Syria, U.S. officers have stated.
The deaths of Foley, Sotloff and Kassig have been confirmed in 2014; Mueller’s loss of life was confirmed in early 2015.
Members of the media collect outdoors of the Federal Courthouse as they look ahead to statements following the sentencing of El Shafee Elsheikh, a former British citizen and IS fighter, in Alexandria, Virginia, U.S., August 19, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger
Elsheikh appeared within the federal courtroom in Alexandria, Virginia, on Friday sporting a grey jumpsuit, a facemask and glasses. Household and pals of his victims have been requested to make statements in entrance of the decide.
“Hatred utterly overtook your humanity,” Foley’s mom, Diane stated, later breaking down in tears. “I pity you. I pray your time in jail provides you with a time to mirror.” Friday marked the eighth anniversary of Foley’s beheading.
The pinnacle of the London police’s Counter Terrorism Command, Richard Smith, stated in a press release the victims’ households “have proven exceptional fortitude and bravado in giving their accounts of what occurred to investigators, and in court docket.”
The fees in opposition to Elsheikh, whose British citizenship was withdrawn in 2018, carried a possible loss of life sentence, however U.S. prosecutors had beforehand suggested British officers that they might not search the loss of life penalty.
Prosecutors argued {that a} life sentence was wanted to stop Elsheikh from inflicting future hurt and to set a precedent that such crimes will get strict punishment.
“The Beatles have been real psychopaths,” First Assistant U.S. Lawyer Raj Parekh argued in court docket on Friday throughout the listening to, including that Elsheikh was the highest-ranking member of the Islamic State to ever be convicted in a U.S. Court docket.
One other cell member, Alexanda Kotey, was sentenced to life in jail by a U.S. decide earlier this yr. Kotey was held in Iraq by the U.S. army earlier than being flown to america to face trial. He pleaded responsible final September to the murders of Foley, Sotloff, Kassig and Mueller. learn extra
A 3rd member of the group, Mohammed Emwazi, died in a U.S.-British missile strike in Syria in 2015.
Some former hostages, launched by the cell after protracted negotiations, testified throughout trials in regards to the torture they endured. Relations of these killed additionally testified.
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Reporting by Kanishka Singh; writing by Rami Ayyub
Enhancing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell
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