German woman loses appeal of 14-year sentence for letting Yazidi slave girl die in Iraq

A German federal court announced Wednesday that it had rejected the appeal of a woman sentenced to 14 years for allowing a 5-year-old Yazidi girl, whom she and her husband held as a slave during their time with the Islamic State group in Iraq, to die of thirst in the sun.

The defendant, a German convert to Islam known as Jennifer W. in accordance with German privacy laws, was convicted in October 2021 on charges including two counts of crimes against humanity through enslavement, one of which resulted in death, and membership in a terrorist organization abroad.

Initially handed a 10-year sentence, it was overturned by the Federal Court of Justice due to sentencing errors, leading to a new hearing in August where she received the 14-year sentence.

The court stated that it rejected her appeal as "manifestly unfounded," without specifying the grounds for her appeal.

The tragic incident occurred in Fallujah, Iraq, in August 2015. During the trial, it was found that the defendant did nothing to aid the girl, who was chained in their courtyard by her husband, even though assistance would have been feasible and reasonable. Additionally, the couple held the girl's mother as a slave.

Jennifer W., now 32, was apprehended while attempting to update her identity documents at the German Embassy in Ankara in 2016 and was subsequently deported to Germany.

Her former husband, an Iraqi citizen identified as Taha Al-J., was convicted in November 2021 on charges including genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and causing death through bodily harm, receiving a life sentence from a Frankfurt court.