Trial of French Nationals Begins in Iraq for ISIS Affiliation
On Sunday, the Iraqi judiciary began trial sessions for six French nationals accused of belonging to the ISIS organization. The session lasted about three hours, before the next session was scheduled for October 1st.
According to the investigations, the six defendants joined the organization after first moving to Turkey and then to Syria. They are part of a first group of 47 French citizens transferred to Iraq in 2025.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that among the accused is Ibrahim Azhaf, who arrived in Syria when he was 14, in addition to Noureddine Al-Mansouri, who was stripped of his French citizenship in June 2026, a decision he has appealed.
The first group also includes Adrien Guihal, who, on behalf of the organization, claimed responsibility for the Nice attack in southern France, which killed 86 people on July 14, 2016, France's National Day.
In past years, Iraqi courts have issued death sentences and life imprisonment for belonging to a "terrorist group" in cases of terrorism and murder involving foreigners. In 2019, death sentences were issued against 11 French citizens, whose sentences were reduced on appeal to life imprisonment.
In early 2026, more than 5,700 people of about sixty nationalities suspected of belonging to the organization were transferred to Iraq after spending years in Syrian camps managed by Kurdish forces.
Source: Agencies
