Iraqi court hands life terms to six French ISIS members

On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, Baghdad's Karkh Criminal Court convicted seven French nationals of membership in ISIS. Judicial authorities said six received life sentences and a seventh 15 years under Iraqi anti-terrorism law. The defendants were part of 47 French nationals transferred from detention camps in northeastern Syria to Iraq last year in a move coordinated by U.S. and Iraqi authorities. The First Karkh Investigation Court handled preliminary interrogations before referral to the criminal court. The hearing included defense counsel and French Embassy representatives; French lawyers did not attend. The judge said the death penalty was avoided because of the defendants' young age. Prosecutors and judicial authorities cited ISIS membership, threats that endangered the security of Iraq, border destabilization, and incitement of terrorist operations in other countries. Reports differed on the six longer terms: many outlets described them as life sentences, while The National reported 20 years each. Defense lawyer Abbas al-Maliki said the verdicts will be appealed to the Iraqi Court of Cassation. These were described as the first verdicts among the transferred French suspects.