U.S. federal appeal court upholds conviction of British ISIS militant
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A federal appeals court in the United States upheld on Friday the conviction of a British national for his involvement in killing and torturing American and western nationals as part of an Islamic State (ISIS) scheme ten years ago.
In 2022, Elsheikh was found guilty based on his involvement in the killing of four American hostages, James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller and given a life sentence in a federal court in Virginia.
El Shafee Elsheikh had appealed his conviction. He claimed that the confessions he made during media interviews after his capture in 2018 should not have been admissible in court.
Elsheikh’s attorneys said that the FBI’s interviews with him while he was in custody in a foreign country violated his constitutional rights.
Elsheikh was one of the infamous ISIS group called the “Beatles” due to their British accent and for beating and torturing prisoners.
Elsheikh was one of two Beatles members brought to the U.S. to stand trial.
The United Kingdom agreed to send him over and shared intelligence and evidence to help with the prosecution, after the U.S. assured that they would not pursue the death penalty in his case.