Iraqi Court Sentences ISIS Leader's Wife to Death for Yazidi Crimes

An Iraqi court has sentenced Asma Mohammed, wife of former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, to death for her involvement in crimes against Yazidi women. The court accused her of detaining and facilitating the kidnapping of Yazidi women by ISIS. Rights groups criticize the lack of due process in such trials.

An Iraqi court issued a death sentence Wednesday against Asma Mohammed, wife of the late ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. She was found complicit in crimes against Yazidi women captured by the militant group.

The ruling precedes the 10-year anniversary of ISIS's attacks against the Yazidi minority in Sinjar, which amounted to genocide, according to the United Nations. Thousands were killed or captured, and many women and girls were trafficked and sexually abused.

According to Iraq's judicial council, Mohammed was sentenced under anti-terrorism and Yazidi survivors laws for detaining Yazidi women and facilitating their kidnapping by ISIS. Arrested in Turkey in 2018 and handed over to Iraq last year, Mohammed's conviction has raised international human rights concerns over due process and the use of torture in extracting confessions.

(With inputs from agencies.)