Iraq News

German ISIS woman accused of letting Yazidi 'slave' girl die of thirst

A German woman who joined the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) in Iraq went on trial Tuesday (April 9th) accused of the war crime of letting a five-year-old Yazidi "slave" girl die of thirst in the sun, AFP reported.

The case against Jennifer Wenisch, 27, is believed to be the first anywhere in the world for international crimes committed by ISIS militants against members of the Yazidi minority.

She faces a maximum term of life in jail if found guilty of committing murder and of murder as a war crime, as well as membership in a terrorist organisation and violations of the German War Weapons Control Act.

It is Germany's first trial of a female ISIS returnee, prosecutor Claudia Gorf told the Munich court.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Nadia Murad, herself a Yazidi survivor of ISIS enslavement and torture, said in a statement that the trial "is a very big moment for me and for the entire Yazidi community".

German prosecutors allege Wenisch and her ISIS husband "purchased" the Yazidi woman and child as household "slaves" whom they held captive while living in then ISIS-occupied Mosul, Iraq, in 2015.

"After the girl fell ill and wet her mattress, the husband of the accused chained her up outside as punishment and let the child die an agonising death of thirst in the scorching heat," prosecutors charge.

"The accused allowed her husband to do so and did nothing to save the girl."

German media said the defendant's husband, Taha Sabah Noori Al-J., had beaten both the mother and child, and that Wenisch allegedly also once held a pistol to the woman's head.

The trial is being held under tight security in a court for state security and terrorism cases, with hearings initially scheduled until September 30th.

Do you like this article?

0 Comment(s)
Comment Policy * Denotes Required Field 1500 / 1500