Image caption IS suspects El Shafee Elsheikh (L) and Alexanda Kotey are being held in northern Syria
Two Londoners accused of being members of the Islamic State group have called into question the British government’s try to have them tried within the United States.
Speaking to the BBC from a jail in Syria, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey additionally denied that they had been stripped in their British citizenship.
The pair were captured in January.
US officials imagine the “execution cell” beheaded a minimum of 27 Western hostages.
they are lately being held in solitary confinement in northern Syria after being stuck via US-sponsored Kurdish forces.
the opposite two cellular phone individuals – additionally from London – were Mohammed Emwazi, nicknamed “Jihadi John”, and Aine Davis. All four were radicalised in the UNITED KINGDOM earlier than travelling to Syria.
In 2017, Davis was jailed in Turkey, having been convicted of being a senior IS member.
Emwazi, who was once the alleged ringleader and seemed in videos appearing hostages being beheaded, was killed through a drone strike in 2015.
When asked about Emwazi, Mr Kotey instructed the BBC he wouldn’t say the rest poor approximately him.
“He used to be a friend of mine,” he stated.
The dying penalty row
In the prior, Britain has sought assurances from overseas governments that the loss of life penalty wouldn’t be used in circumstances the place the uk supplied information or extradited suspects.
In this example, the uk to begin with shared intelligence with the us, however sought no such assurances.
On The Other Hand, knowledge sharing was once halted last month after Mr Elsheikh’s mother launched a criminal problem.
the united kingdom Home Office is now waiting for a judge’s ruling on whether or not ministers can lawfully supply information to the united states to be used to prosecute the lads, with out first looking for a be sure that they’re going to now not be put to dying.
Some loved ones of the victims have mentioned they’re in opposition to the loss of life penalty for the pair.
Diane Foley – whose son James, an American journalist, was once beheaded by cellular phone in 2014 – previously advised the BBC: “I THINK so that it will just lead them to martyrs in their twisted ideology.”
The Place will they move on trial?
James Landale, BBC diplomatic correspondent
The listing of accusations against those two men, which they deny, is lengthy and transparent. But that does not mean they are prone to face a criminal trial any time quickly.
First, they’re being held in northern Syria through the Syrian Democratic Forces – an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters opposed to IS. they are now not in the arms of the British or American authorities. Due To This Fact a lot relies on what the SDF choose to do with them.
2D, they are no longer British citizens. the uk government, we’re confident, have had no contact with them. The pair are accused of being members of a group that killed westerners of several nationalities, not just Britons. So it is no longer robotically transparent the place the two men should be tried.
And third, there is the easy problem that instances of international warring parties like these will also be extremely exhausting to prosecute. there is the difficulty in acquiring evidence, discovering witnesses and organising what crimes were devoted in which jurisdiction.
Read extra from James here.
