Six French nationals accused of Islamic State links face trial in Iraq

Six French nationals accused of having links to the Islamic State are due to appear before an Iraqi court from Sunday, as Baghdad begins a broader judicial process involving thousands of alleged members of the jihadist organization transferred from detention facilities in northeastern Syria.

An Iraqi judicial source confirmed the start of the hearings to AFP on Thursday. The identities of the six defendants have not been made public. They are among 47 French nationals transferred in July 2025 from the Derik prison in northeastern Syria to Baghdad's Al-Karkh central prison.

The detainees had previously been held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Kurdish-led force that played a central role in the international campaign against Islamic State in Syria with US support.

French lawyers call for repatriation

The opening of the trials has triggered renewed calls from French lawyers for the detainees to be brought back to France. Several attorneys representing French nationals held in Iraq say their clients could face capital punishment under Iraqi law.

Lawyers Marie Dosé, Matthieu Bagard, Victoire d’Humières, Pauline Gamba-Martini and Baptiste Vachon said they had been informed that proceedings were imminent but had not received formal notification from the Iraqi authorities.

They also raised concerns about access to case files and their ability to effectively represent defendants before Iraqi courts. The lawyers represent 25 of the French nationals currently detained in Baghdad and are seeking their transfer to France, where they argue the cases could be handled by French judicial authorities.

According to the lawyers, some detainees reported alleged mistreatment and violence during visits. These claims are contested matters that would require judicial examination and independent verification.

French consular authorities have confirmed that hearings involving French nationals could begin from September 20. At the same time, all French citizens detained in Iraq are subject to investigations by France's National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office and to international arrest warrants issued by French courts.

A case involving a former Islamic State propagandist

Among the 47 French nationals transferred to Iraq is Adrien Guihal, a former figure in the French jihadist milieu who claimed responsibility on behalf of Islamic State for the 2016 attack in Nice.

The truck attack, carried out on July 14, 2016, killed 86 people during celebrations marking France's national day.

There is currently no indication that Guihal is among the six defendants scheduled to appear in the first hearings.

The case illustrates the wider challenge facing European governments as Iraq takes responsibility for prosecuting foreign nationals captured after the collapse of Islamic State's territorial control in Syria and Iraq.

Iraq faces thousands of terrorism cases

The proceedings involving the French detainees form part of a much larger judicial operation.

Iraqi prisons have received thousands of suspected Islamic State members transferred from northeastern Syria. Between January and February 2026, more than 5,700 men suspected of belonging to the organization were transferred to Iraq by the US military after having spent years in detention facilities controlled by the SDF.

Baghdad had requested the transfers amid fighting involving Kurdish forces and the Syrian army, with concerns that instability could lead to mass prison escapes.

At the beginning of September, Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council said interrogations had been completed for 5,704 defendants from 67 nationalities. Their files are expected to move progressively to trial courts, with Iraqi authorities saying each case will be assessed according to the evidence gathered against the individual defendant.

Among those transferred in 2026 are at least five French nationals. Some were minors when their parents took them to territory controlled by Islamic State.

Allegations involving senior Islamic State figures

Iraqi investigators say their inquiries have identified former Islamic State figures who held military, security, financial, logistical and media responsibilities.

Several defendants are also suspected of involvement in crimes against Yazidi women, including detention, transportation, sale and enslavement.

The Iraqi authorities are simultaneously processing cases in which investigations have not produced sufficient evidence to justify prosecution. Baghdad has announced plans to return 457 Syrian nationals to Syria after determining that there were no grounds to continue proceedings against them.

A Finnish national and an American citizen have already been returned to their respective countries after being cleared, alongside seven Iraqi detainees.

Death penalty remains a central concern

Iraq has handed down hundreds of death sentences and life-imprisonment terms in terrorism cases over the past years, including against foreign Islamic State fighters transferred from Syria.

In 2019, eleven French nationals were sentenced to death in Iraq following rapid trials. Their sentences were later commuted to life imprisonment.

Human rights organizations have repeatedly raised concerns about the fairness of some Iraqi terrorism proceedings. Human Rights Watch has documented cases in which convictions and executions were linked to proceedings it considered unfair and to evidence allegedly obtained through torture. Amnesty International has also reported serious procedural concerns in cases involving the death penalty.

Iraqi judicial authorities reject the suggestion that defendants are left without legal safeguards. They say each accused person has been assigned an Iraqi lawyer and that medical examinations have been conducted. The authorities also point to visits by the International Committee of the Red Cross and consular representatives.

A facility for remote hearings has additionally been established inside Al-Karkh prison.

A judicial process shaped by the fall of Islamic State

The cases now reaching Iraqi courts are a direct consequence of the collapse of Islamic State's territorial project.

After emerging during the Syrian war, the organization seized large areas of Syria and Iraq in 2014 and proclaimed a so-called caliphate. Its rule was accompanied by mass killings, abductions, torture and the systematic enslavement of Yazidis and others.

The group's territorial control in Iraq ended in 2017, followed by the loss of its last significant territory in Syria in 2019 after military operations involving local forces and an international coalition led by the United States.

The upcoming French cases therefore represent only a small part of a judicial process involving thousands of alleged Islamic State members. For Iraq, the challenge is to process those cases while managing a large multinational detainee population. For France and other European governments, the proceedings raise questions about the treatment, legal representation and eventual fate of their nationals accused of joining the jihadist organization.