Iraqi Court Sentences Widow of ISIS Leader to Death

An Iraqi court has issued a death sentence against the wife of the deceased Islamic State leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Reuters reported yesterday.

The woman was convicted of working with the terrorist group and detaining Yazidi women in her home in Mosul, the source added.

The Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq stated that the Yazidi women were kidnapped by ISIS in Sinjar and then held prisoner by Baghdadi’s wife. The criminal court sentenced her to death by hanging for crimes against humanity and genocide against the Yazidi people, as well as contributing to terrorism.

The ruling must still be ratified by an Iraqi appeal court before it can be carried out.

Baghdadi, who was killed in a U.S. raid in 2019, had declared himself “caliph” of the Islamic State, which controlled large areas of Iraq and Syria until its defeat.