Iraq begins trial of six French citizens in ISIS cases — Asharq Al-Awsat
On September 20, a trial began in Baghdad of six French citizens suspected of involvement with the Islamic State group (ISIS). The court scheduled the next hearing for October 5.
Proceedings
As Asharq Al-Awsat reports, the first hearing lasted nearly three hours. The judge read out the investigation's findings and displayed materials on a screen, including the defendants' testimonies. According to the investigation, they first arrived in Turkey and then traveled to Syria, where they joined ISIS.
Those named among the defendants are Charli Sun, Kamel Ben Mbarak, Najib Megherbi, Mehdi Ismael, Ibrahim Azahaf, and Noureddine El-Mansouri. According to French lawyers, Azahaf arrived in Syria at the age of 14. El-Mansouri was stripped of French citizenship in June 2026, but the decision is being appealed.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Transfer of detainees from Syria
The six French nationals are part of a group of 47 French citizens transferred from Syria to Iraq last year. The wider group includes Adrien Ghiat, who claimed responsibility on behalf of ISIS for the 2016 attack in Nice.
French lawyers had previously called for the detained French nationals to be repatriated, warning that they could face the death penalty in Iraq. In February, the United States transferred more than 5,700 detainees suspected of ties to ISIS from more than 60 countries to Iraq. Before that, they had spent years in Syrian prisons controlled by Kurdish forces. Earlier this month, Iraq's judicial authorities announced the completion of interrogations and the further consideration of the cases in court.
