El Shafee el-Sheikh, member of « Beatles »a cell of the jihadist group Islamic State (IS) specializing in the capture, torture and execution of Western hostages, was sentenced to life in prison by a US court on Friday August 19.
The 34-year-old man, wearing a beard, large glasses and a mask, remained impassive as the decision was announced in a court in Alexandria, near the capital Washington.
The actions of El Shafee el-Sheikh were “horrible, barbaric, brutal, cruel and, of course, criminal”, said federal judge TS Ellis, while stating his decision: eight concurrent life sentences for the murders of four Americans. His lawyers have indicated their intention to appeal.
He had been arrested by Syrian Kurdish forces in 2018. He has since been found guilty in April by a popular jury, following a harrowing trial that exposed the sadism of the « Beatles » in broad daylight.
Another “Beatles” already sentenced to life
A 12-person jury deliberated for less than six hours, over two days, before convicting him for his role in the deaths of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff as well as aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.
“This trial has exposed the atrocious human rights crimes you have committed”said Diane Foley, the journalist’s mother, eight years to the day after IS broadcast the video showing his beheading. “Your hate crimes did not prevail. »
El Shafee el-Sheikh had been arrested along with another alleged member of the « Beatles », Alexanda Kotey, a 38-year-old former British national. Both men had been handed over to US forces in Iraq and sent to the United States in 2020 to stand trial. Alexanda Kotey pleaded guilty in September 2021, and was sentenced to life in prison last April by the same judge, TS Ellis.
Another alleged member of « Beatles »Aine Davis, 38, was charged and brought before a British court last week in London after being deported from Turkey.
The best known of the group, the Briton Mohammed Emwazi, alias « Jihadi John »was killed by an American drone in Syria in 2015. He appeared in multiple videos showing the throats cut.
Propaganda videos
Active in Syria between 2012 and 2015, the four members of the « Beatles »all radicalized in London, are accused of overseeing the detention of at least 27 journalists and aid workers from the US, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand and Russia.
The nickname of « Beatles » had been given by Western hostages to this group of jihadists with a British accent. This group had gained a sinister notoriety by staging the execution of captives in unbearable propaganda videos.
At the trial of El Shafee el-Sheikh, ten former European and Syrian hostages described the atrocities suffered at the hands of the « Beatles »such as simulated drowning, electric shock or mock execution.
This week, British police revealed that building a case against the « Beatles » had been akin to building for ten years “a puzzle of tiny pieces”.
“We have followed a path of small breadcrumbs, fragments in fact, from a huge amount of other investigations”London police chief Richard Smith told reporters on Wednesday.