Iraq hands prison terms to seven French nationals over Islamic State ties

A Baghdad court has sentenced six French citizens to life behind bars and ordered a 15-year prison term for another French national over their affiliation with the Islamic State group, also known as Daesh.

The verdicts were issued by the Al Karkh Criminal Court in the Iraqi capital, according to an announcement by the country's Supreme Judicial Council reported via the Iraqi News Agency. Court proceedings were attended by the defendants' legal representatives alongside French diplomatic staff.

Judicial authorities designated the seven individuals as exceptionally dangerous. Officials stated that the men played direct roles in endangering Iraq's domestic security, fueling instability across both Iraq and neighboring Syria, and helping incite terror plots in other countries.

The men formed part of a larger contingent of 47 French citizens who were moved from northeastern Syria and placed into Iraqi custody last year. Before the criminal trial took place, the Karkh First Investigation Court carried out formal inquiries into the suspects before forwarding their files to the trial court under standard statutory guidelines.

The rulings mark the latest legal proceedings in Iraq involving foreign fighters who traveled to the region during the height of the Islamic State's cross-border territorial control. Thousands of foreign nationals were detained across Syria and Iraq following the group's territorial collapse, leaving regional authorities and international governments to navigate complex legal, diplomatic, and security processes surrounding their detention and prosecution.