French court sentences woman to 14 years in prison for leaving Syria with children
The Criminal Court in Paris sentenced a woman who left for Syria with her partner and four young children to 14 years in prison on Friday, and was accused of terrorism and kidnapping of minors, and the indictment filed by the prosecution to the court judges described the defendant Jehan Makhzoumi as a "selfish person" "Frighteningly" and "at no point has any capacity for empathy"?
For his part, the President of the Court spoke of the facts of "particularly serious" and "participation in the knowledge of a criminal organization", which is considered "bloody", adding: "In these circumstances, only a firm judgment can be made."
Makhzoumi was visibly shocked when the verdict was announced, and her lawyers Clements Witt and Florian Lastel declared that "we consider the verdict to be totally disproportionate, and we will certainly appeal."
Makhzoumi has been on trial since Monday on charges of joining a criminal terrorist gang, abducting children and abandoning a minor. They were between 3 and 5 years old and a three-week-old baby, and joined the terrorist group ISIS in Raqqa, eastern Syria.
Makhzoumi was arrested on October 10, 2016, at Paris airport on her return from Syria with her three daughters born to another father, but without the baby, the daughter of her partner with whom she left for Syria, and knows nothing about the baby for more than three years.
Samia Iid, a lawyer for the infant's mother, Jana, and the civil party in the case, said the verdict was "necessary for awareness" and that Makhzoumi would be an example of "other mothers who left with children."