Iraq sentences Belgian to death for IS membership

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi court on Tuesday sentenced a Belgian, who threatened Europe in propaganda videos, to death by hanging for membership of the IS group.

The tough punishment is the latest doled out in the conflictscarred country to foreigners who flocked to the self-declared caliphate of IS. Tarik Jadaoun earlier pleaded not guilty to a range of terror charges, insisting he had “got lost” and pleading for mercy.

Born in 1988, Jadaoun — who was captured in ex-is bastion Mosul in August — appeared before the Baghdad court dressed in a beige prison uniform with a shaved head and bushy moustache.

The hearing lasted for less than 10 minutes, with a judge sentencing him to be “hanged until death”.

Jadaoun — who refused to defend himself after the charges were read out — was immediately taken out of court with his face covered by guards and loaded into a prison van.

He now has 30 days to appeal the verdict during which time the sentence should not be carried out.

He was also sentenced to three years in prison and handed a fine worth $2,300 for illegally crossing the Iraqi border. Jadaoun, who has Moroccan roots, said during a first hearing on May 10 that he was forced by “one of the top IS commanders” to appear in videos threatening attacks against Belgium and France.

The footage saw Jadaoun earn the moniker “the new Abaaoud”, after his compatriot Abdelhamid Abaaoud, one of the organisers of November 2015 attacks in Paris.

Investigators had previously alleged that Jadaoun was in charge of the “cubs of the caliphate” — about 60 children aged eight to 13 who received intensive fitness and weapons training.

There was no mention of these allegations at his trial.