Iraqi court hands life sentences to three more French ISIS members

An Iraqi court on Thursday sentenced three more French nationals to life in prison for being part of ISIS, bringing to 10 the number of French citizens convicted this week.

The three men were sentenced by the Karkh Criminal Court in Baghdad under Iraq’s anti-terrorism law. Under Iraqi law, a life sentence is equivalent to 20 years in prison and is subject to an automatic review by the Court of Cassation within 30 days.

The verdicts come after the same court sentenced seven other French nationals on Tuesday, in the first rulings in a mass trial involving 47 French citizens transferred from north-eastern Syria to Iraq in July 2025.

On Tuesday, six men received life terms, while a seventh was given 15 years.

Judge Mohammed Salman presided over the hearings. “The court found that the evidence is sufficient to convict you,” he told each defendant. “The charge carries the death penalty, but because you are a young man at the beginning of your life, I have decided to give you a chance to reform yourself and change the course of your life.”

Court-appointed defence lawyers and representatives of the French embassy were present at the hearings.

Among those sentenced on Thursday was Charly Sun Raymond, 32, of Vietnamese origin. He took the name Abu Sufyan Al Faransi while in ISIS.

During his hearing on Tuesday, Raymond told the court he had no intention of going to Syria and had travelled to Turkey for a holiday at his sister's invitation.

He said his sister, who converted to Islam in Paris in 2011, was in a relationship with a man in Syria who convinced her to come, and they travelled to the Turkish city of Urfa. He claimed he only agreed to cross the border to accompany her and then return, but that ISIS militants convinced him to stay once inside Syria. He enrolled in a two-week Sharia course that he did not understand because it was in Arabic, and he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.

Show caption: The same court sentenced seven other French nationals on Tue…

He first joined the Islamic police and then Diwan Al Jund, where he was assigned to military posts, first in the northern countryside and later in Raqqa. He rejected intelligence reports that identified him as a sniper.

He was later moved to a civilian prison where detainees were held for violations such as smoking and theft. He was paid $100 a month, married in Syria and had two children, and suffered an injury to his left hand in an air strike.

His account was challenged several times during the hearing. When he said he was arrested in Baghouz while trying to flee, Judge Salman interrupted. “You took part in Baghouz fights in 2019 and you were injured,” Judge Salman said. Similarly, he was confronted with information that authorities found extremist ideology on his phone in France and videos supporting terrorist organisations.

He claimed to have abandoned ISIS in 2017 but remained in Syria for his sister. The court noted that the ISIS data sheet identifies him as a “Mujahid”.

He pleaded guilty, telling the court at the end of his hearing, “I am remorseful”.

“This is something that happened in the past and I cannot fix it,” he said. “For eight years my mind was brainwashed; now everything is clear.”

Kamal Habib Ahmed bin Mubarak, 42, was also sentenced on Thursday. He said his path to Syria began with the Arab Spring.

“Seeing the Arab Spring brought anger into my heart regarding injustice,” Mr bin Mubarak told the court during his hearing on Tuesday.

“Afterwards I became angry because of the violations of the Syrian regime. At that time I felt that Muslim blood had no value.

“The propaganda of the organisation was very strong in the beginning, I didn't find anyone to advise me, I wish there had been prevention on the matter from the beginning.”

In Syria, he said he entered a Sharia camp and later worked in the internal police, whose task was arresting ISIS members accused of bribery and corruption.

“ISIS used part of religion and left some,” he said, reflecting on the group.

“I am not only regretful but regretful and upset at myself. I confess that I am guilty.

“I disavow the organisation and these crimes and I apologise to the victims and their families. Their acts were from another era.”