One of the members of ” Beatles », cell of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) specializing in the capture, torture and execution of Western hostages, was sentenced to eight life sentences by an American court on Friday August 19. El Shafee El-Sheikh, 34, was found guilty in April for his role in the deaths of four Americans: journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
The actions of El Shafee El-Sheikh were “horrible, barbaric, brutal, cruel and, of course, criminal”, said federal judge TS Ellis, while stating his decision. His lawyers have made known their intention to appeal.
“This trial has exposed the atrocious human rights crimes you have committedsaid Diane Foley, the mother of journalist James Foley, eight years to the day after ISIS released the video showing his beheading. Your hate crimes didn’t win out. »
Death penalty excluded
El Shafee El-Sheikh had been arrested along with another alleged Beatles member, Alexanda Kotey, a 38-year-old former British national. The two men had been handed over to US forces in Iraq and sent to the United States in 2020 to stand trial.
Alexanda Kotey pleaded guilty in September 2021, and was sentenced to life in prison last April by the same judge, TS Ellis. The death penalty was ruled out for both men due to an agreement with London.
Another alleged cell member, Aine Davis, 38, was charged and brought before a UK court last week in London after being deported from Turkey. The best known of the group, the British Mohammed Emwazi, alias “Jihadi John”, was killed by an American drone in Syria in 2015. He appeared in multiple videos showing throats.
The four jihadists had been nicknamed the “Beatles” by their hostages because of their British accent.
At least twenty-seven hostages
Active in Syria from 2012 to 2015, the “Beatles” oversaw the detention of at least twenty-seven journalists and humanitarian workers from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand and Russia. A dozen were executed and their deaths were staged in IS propaganda videos that shocked the world.
At the trial of El Shafee El-Sheikh, ten former European and Syrian hostages described the atrocities that members of this group had subjected them to, such as simulated drowning, electric shocks or mock executions.
This week, British police revealed that building the case against the members of this cell had been akin to building for ten years “a puzzle of tiny pieces”.
