Islamic State Beatles probe wrapped up in Rome

Rome prosecutors have wrapped up a probe into the “ISIS Beatles”, a gang of Islamist extremists who kidnapped several people in Syria including Italian aid worker Federico Motka who was held between 2013 and 2014, judicial sources said Tuesday.

Prosecutor Michele Prestipino and assistant prosecutor Sergio Colaiocco have concluded their probe into four perons including Leslie Aine Davis, Amon Alexanda Kotey, and El Shafee Elsheikh.

The group, which also included the late ‘Jihadi John’, were called after the Fab Four because of their English accents.

Jihadi John, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi (1988 – 12 November 2015) was a British-Kuwaiti militant believed to be the person seen in several videos produced by the Islamist extremist group ISIS or ISIL showing the beheadings of a number of captives in 2014 and 2015.

The Rome prosecutor’s office is the first judicial authority to conclude investigations against the three and Emwazi.

Davis is currently being held in Turkey while Kotey and Elsheikh were recently flown to the US after a period of detention in the Middle East.

In their charge sheet the Roman prosecutors speak of “violence, torture and cruelty” towards aid worker Motka, who was abducted on March 12 seven years ago and freed after 14 months of captivity.

Motka was subjected to water-boarding, mock execution, sleep deprivation, electric shocks with tasers, beatings, and forced into prolonged stress positions, the prosecutors say.

This alleged torture was aimed at persuading his sister to pay a ransom more quickly, they say.

Source: ANSA