German court sentenced Islamic State widow over Yazidi slaves

A German court on Thursday sentenced the woman, Omaima A., to additional jail time for using slave women to clean her home.

The 37-year-old, already convicted of belonging to the “Islamic State” (IS) militant group, had already admitted the offense, the DPA news agency reported.

The court confirmed to DW that a previous sentence of three and a half years would be extended to four years in total.

The defendant told the court that, at the beginning of 2016, she had two Yazidi slave girls clean her living quarters. Omaima A., the widow of former rapper and IS fighter Denis Cuspert, said she got in contact with the girls through a friend but admitted it was clear to her they were there against their will.

“I showed the place to the two slave girls and told them which areas they should clean,” she said at the time.

The German-Tunisian woman, who was born in Hamburg, distanced herself from IS and said she regretted her misconduct. She had apologized to the two women, one of whom was a plaintiff in the trial.

The woman had already been convicted of aiding and abetting slavery for keeping watch over another enslaved Yazidi girl, a 13-year-old, for several hours.

The admission of guilt to aiding and abetting slavery was by agreement earlier in the process. The Hamburg prosecutor general’s office had demanded a prison sentence of two years.

However, taking her initial sentence into account, the prosecution and defense agreed to a plea bargain with a total sentence of four years.

Source: DW