BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced to death an eighth Frenchman for joining the Daesh group, rejecting his claims he was tortured into confessing.
Fodil Tahar Aouidate, 32, first appeared in court on May 27 but a judge delayed his trial to allow for a medical examination.
“The medical report shows that there are no signs of torture on his body,” the judge told the court.
Aouidate showed no reaction when the judge handed down his death sentence, according to an AFP journalist at the trial.
He was one of 11 French citizens and a Tunisian handed over to Iraqi authorities early this year by a US-backed force in Syria which expelled the militant group from its last bastion.
A Baghdad court had already handed capital punishments to seven of the French militant and the Tunisian over the past week and Aouidate will now join them on death row.
Interrogated for four months, Aouidate alleged he was beaten to “confess” to the charges levelled against him.
During his first hearing he showed marks on his back to the judge, who requested a medical examination and report.
Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Iraqi interrogators of “using a range of torture techniques” and condemned France’s “outsourcing” of trials of Daesh suspects to “abusive justice systems.”
France has long insisted its adult citizens captured in Iraq or Syria must face trial before local courts, while stressing its opposition to capital punishment.
Iraqi law provides for the death penalty for anyone joining a “terrorist group” — even those who did not take up arms.
Aouidate first went to Syria in 2013 and returned in 2014 with 22 members of his family to join Daesh, according to the French judiciary.
Authorities also linked him to Belgium’s Salafist movement including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the presumed mastermind of the 2015 Paris attacks.
France convicted two of Aouidate’s sisters for “financing terrorism” for sending 15,000 euros to relatives in Syria.
Iraq condemns eighth French Daesh member to death
Iraq condemns eighth French Daesh member to death
- 11 French citizens and a Tunisian handed over to Iraqi authorities early this year by a US-backed force in Syria
- France has long insisted its adult citizens captured in Iraq or Syria must face trial before local courts
Iran temporarily closes airspace to most flights
WASHINGTON: Iran temporarily closed its airspace to all flights except international ones to and from Iran with official permission at 5:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, according to a notice posted on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website.
The prohibition is set to last for more than two hours until 7:30 p.m. ET, or 0030 GMT, but could be extended, the notice said. The United States was withdrawing some personnel from bases in the Middle East, a US official said on Wednesday, after a senior Iranian official said Tehran had warned neighbors it would hit American bases if Washington strikes.
Missile and drone barrages in a growing number of conflict zones represent a high risk to airline traffic. India’s largest airline, IndiGo said some of its international flights would be impacted by Iran’s sudden airspace closure. A flight by Russia’s Aeroflot bound for Tehran returned to Moscow after the closure, according to tracking data from Flightradar24.
Earlier on Wednesday, Germany issued a new directive cautioning the country’s airlines from entering Iranian airspace, shortly after Lufthansa rejigged its flight operations across the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region.
The United States already prohibits all US commercial flights from overflying Iran and there are no direct flights between the countries. Airline operators like flydubai and Turkish Airlines have canceled multiple flights to Iran in the past week. “Several airlines have already reduced or suspended services, and most carriers are avoiding Iranian airspace,” said Safe Airspace, a website run by OPSGROUP, a membership-based organization that shares flight risk information.
“The situation may signal further security or military activity, including the risk of missile launches or heightened air defense, increasing the risk of misidentification of civil traffic.” Lufthansa said on Wednesday that it would bypass Iranian and Iraqi airspace until further notice while it would only operate day flights to Tel Aviv and Amman from Wednesday until Monday next week so that crew would not have to stay overnight.
Some flights could also be canceled as a result of these actions, it added in a statement. Italian carrier ITA Airways, in which Lufthansa Group is now a major shareholder, said that it would similarly suspend night flights to Tel Aviv until Tuesday next week.
