A member of the Islamic State group, which beheaded US hostages in Iraq and Syria, called the Beatles because of its British accent, has been found guilty in a US terrorist court.
A jury has found El Shafi Elsheikh, a 33-year-old former British citizen, guilty of all eight charges following a trial in Alexandria, Virginia.
The jurors debated for four hours before sentencing for the most significant prosecution of an Islamic State member in the United States. Elsheich stood motionless and gave no visible reaction until the verdict was read. He now faces a life sentence.
Elsheich was accused of taking hostages, plotting to assassinate American citizens – journalists James Foley and Stephen Sotloff, and aid workers Peter Cassig and Kayla Mueller – and supporting a terrorist organization.
The two-week trial heard the group force their captives to fight each other until they collapsed, forcing them to sing cruel parodies of songs. The surviving hostages testified that they were happy to rewrite Hotel California as Hotel Osama and make them sing the refrain “You’ll Never Leave.”
The finding of guilt came, although none of the surviving hostages could identify Elsheikh as one of their captors. Although the Beatles had distinctive accents – the survivors identified them as “John”, “George” and “Ringo” – they always took great care to hide their faces behind masks and ordered the hostages to avoid eye contact or risk beating.
Prosecutors suggested in their introductory statements that Elsheich was the man nicknamed “Ringo”, but only had to prove that Elsheich was one of the Beatles, as testimony showed that all three were key players in the scheme.
During a close debate Wednesday, US Assistant Attorney General Raj Pareh told jurors: “The Beatles were the lifeblood of the hostage conspiracy.”
Elsheikh, who was captured by the Kurdish-led Syrian Defense Forces in 2018, eventually admitted his role in the scheme to interrogators as well as media interviewers, acknowledging that he helped gather email addresses and provided proof of life. of hostage families as part of ransom negotiations.
But evidence has shown that he and the other Beatles are much more than paper pushers. The surviving hostages said they feared the men would appear in the various prisons to which they were constantly transported and relocated.
Surviving witness Federico Motka recounted a time in the summer of 2013 when he and his cellmate David Haynes were placed in a room with US hostage James Foley and British hostage John Cantley and forced to fight in what they called a “royal rumble.” The losers were told they would be watered. Weak from hunger, two of the four fainted during the one-hour battle.
Sentences on all eight counts in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria revolve around the deaths of four U.S. hostages. All but Mueller were executed by beheading videos distributed online. Mueller was forced into slavery and repeatedly raped by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before being assassinated.
They were among 26 hostages taken between 2012 and 2015, when the Islamic State group controlled large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Defense attorneys admitted that Elsheikh joined the Islamic State group, but said prosecutors had failed to prove he was the Beatles. They cite the lack of clarity about who the Beatles are, and in the introductory statement of the trial they cite the confusion about whether there are three or four Beatles.
Prosecutors said there were three: Elsheikh and his friends Alexandra Kotei and Mohamed Emuazi, who all knew each other in Britain before joining Islamic State.
Emwazi, who was known as “Jihadist John” and carried out the executions, was later killed in a drone strike. Kotei and Elsheich were captured together in 2018 and taken to Virginia in 2020 to stand trial after the United States promised not to seek the death penalty.
Kotei pleaded guilty last year to a plea deal that requires a life sentence, but leaves open the possibility of him serving his sentence in the United Kingdom after 15 years in the United States. Britain stripped Kotei and Elsheich of their British citizenship.
The court heard horrific testimonies from survivors and their families. Cassig’s father, Ed, took the witness stand and read a letter from May 2014 written by his late son in captivity. It said, “Dad, I’m paralyzed here. I’m afraid to fight. Part of me still has hope. Part of me is sure I’m going to die. “
Kasig, a humanitarian worker taken hostage in Syria in 2013, wrote that his captors tried to convince the hostages that they had been abandoned by their families and their countries because they refused to comply with Islamic State demands.
“But, of course, we know you’re doing your best and more. Don’t worry, Dad, if I go down, I won’t think of anything but what I know to be true, that you and Mom love me more than the moon!
Cassig added: “If I do die, I believe that at least you and I can find refuge and comfort, knowing that I came out as a result of trying to alleviate the suffering and help those in need.
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