Member of the jihadist cell ‘Beatles’ is sentenced to life in prison in the United States

First modification: 08/20/2022 – 04:00

El Shafee el-Sheikh will spend the rest of his life behind bars: a member of the ‘Beatles’, a cell of the jihadist organization calling itself the Islamic State (OEI) specializing in the capture, torture and execution of Western hostages, was sentenced on Friday 19 August to life imprisonment. The sentence was pronounced by a court in the state of Virginia.

The 34-year-old man, with a beard, large glasses and a mask, remained unmoved as the decision was announced in a court in Alexandria, near Washington DC.

El Shafee el-Sheikh’s actions were “horrific, barbaric, brutal, cruel and, of course, criminal,” said federal Judge Thomas Selby Ellis, laying out his decision: eight simultaneous life sentences for the murder of four Americans. His lawyers showed their intention to appeal.

The terrorist was arrested by Syrian Kurdish forces in 2018. He was then found guilty by a popular judge in April, after facing a grueling trial that exposed the ‘Beatles’ sadism in broad daylight.

Another ‘Beatle’ already sentenced to life in prison

A 12-person jury returned guilty pleas in less than six hours 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 heinous human rights crimes you have committed,” said Diane Foley, the journalist’s mother eight years after the Islamic State released the video showing his beheading. “Your hate crimes didn’t win,” she added.

El Shafee el-Sheikh had been arrested along with another suspected member of the ‘Beatles’, Alexanda Kotey, a 38-year-old former British citizen. 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, Thomas Selby Ellis.

Another alleged member of the ‘Beatles’, Aine Davis, 38, was charged and brought before a UK court last week, before being deported to Turkey.

The most famous of the group, Briton Mohammed Emwazi, alias ‘Jihadi John’, was killed by a US drone in Syria in 2015.

A decade of research

Active in Syria between 2012 and 2015, the four members of the ‘Beatles’ became radicalized in London and are accused of having supervised the arrest of at least 27 journalists and humanitarian workers from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy , Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand and Russia.

The nickname ‘Beatles’ had been given by Western hostages to this group of British-accented jihadis.

This group had gained sinister notoriety by staging the execution of captives in violent propaganda videos.

At the El Shafee el-Sheikh trial, ten former European and Syrian hostages described atrocities suffered at the hands of the ‘Beatles’, including mock drownings, electric shocks and attempted executions.

This week, British police revealed that putting together the case against the ‘Beatles’ had been like building “a puzzle with very small pieces” for ten years.

“We have followed a path of little breadcrumbs, bits of fact, from a host of other investigations,” London police counter-terrorism chief Richard Smith told reporters on Wednesday.

with AFP