Iraq court sentences French woman to life for IS membership
Islamic State
Melina Boughedir, a mother of four, was sentenced last February to seven months in prison for "illegal" entry into the country and was set to be deported back to France
An Iraqi court on Sunday sentenced a French woman to life in jail for membership of the Islamic State group as her lawyers accused authorities in Paris of putting pressure on Baghdad to prevent the return of jihadists to France.
Melina Boughedir, a mother of four, was sentenced last February to seven months in prison for "illegal" entry into the country and was set to be deported back to France.
But another court ordered the re-trial of the 27-year-old French citizen under Iraq's anti-terrorist law and on Sunday she was found guilty of belonging to IS.
"I am innocent," Boughedir told the judge in French.
"My husband duped me and then threatened to leave with the children" unless she followed him to Iraq, where he planned on joining IS, she said.
"I am opposed to the ideology of the Islamic group and condemn the actions of my husband," she added.
Previosuly, Iraq sentenced 19 Russian women to life in prison for joining the Islamic State group, the latest in a series of heavy verdicts against foreign women linked to the jihadists.
The head of Baghdad’s Central Criminal Court, which deals with terrorism cases, said the women were found guilty of “joining and supporting IS“, according to an AFP journalist at the hearing. Six women from Azerbaijan and four from Tajikistan were also condemned to life in prison Sunday on the same charge.