Iraqi court clears German-Turkish woman of ISIL links

BAGHDAD – Agence France-Presse

An Iraqi judge on Aug. 29 cleared a German-Turkish woman of having ties to ISIL, a judicial source said, more than a year after she was detained.

Hadya Abdel Qader had been held without charge since her arrest by Iraqi security forces in Mosul, in a part of the northern city once held by ISIL.

The jihadist group was ousted from Mosul in July last year after a months-long battle, during which suspected members of the jihadist group were rounded up.

But a judge at Baghdad’s central criminal court found no evidence to link Qader to ISIL, a judicial source said on Aug. 29.

The 40-year-old will remain in prison while prosecutors are given a month to decide whether to confirm or overturn the judge’s ruling.

The office of Germany’s anti-terrorism prosecutor did not confirm the details of the case, telling AFP only that her name “was not unknown” to authorities.

Iraq has sentenced more than 300 people to death for belonging to ISIL, including around 100 foreigners. At least the same number has received life terms, Iraqi judicial sources have said.

In April, an Iraqi court commuted the death sentence of a German woman of Moroccan origin, reducing her sentence for ISIL membership to a 20-year life term.

A 17-year-old German girl was sentenced in February to six years in prison for ISIL membership and illegally crossing the border.