At the Paris criminal court, proceedings have been opened against French citizen Sabri Essid, who is accused of joining ISIS and participating in crimes committed against the Yazidi minority. Tried in absentia, Essid is charged with genocide, crimes against humanity, and complicity in these crimes. The case is the first in France to address the genocide committed against the Yazidis.
Essid, born in 1984, is alleged to have joined ISIS in Syria in 2014 and is claimed to have died in 2018. However, because there is no definitive proof of his death, the French judiciary considers him a fugitive and is proceeding with the trial.
During the hearing, three Yazidi women have joined the case as civil parties, and two of them are expected to testify in court.
According to the investigation file, Essid is accused of purchasing Yazidi women from slave markets and forcing them into sexual slavery, as well as being involved in serious crimes such as rape and abuse.
In the genocidal attacks carried out by ISIS on the Yazidi town of Shengal (Sinjar) on August 3, 2014, thousands of Yazidis were massacred and thousands of women and children were abducted and enslaved.
Sabri Essid reportedly went to the Iraq–Syria border region at the beginning of 2014, after which his wife, their three children, and his wife’s son from a previous marriage joined him there.
In an ISIS propaganda video released on March 10, 2015, Essid appeared forcing his stepson, who was 12 years old at the time, to execute a Palestinian hostage by shooting him in the head.
His wife, who was arrested after returning to France, will testify as a witness during the hearing.
The trial in France is considered the latest link in a chain of cases across Europe concerning the Yazidi genocide.
In recent years, several ISIS members have been convicted in Europe for the genocide against the Yazidis; the first occurred in Germany in 2021, followed by cases in Sweden and Belgium last year.
Another trial related to the Yazidi genocide will take place in Paris in 2027. In that case, ISIS emir Abdulnasır Benyusef, who is also believed to be dead, and his former partner Sonia Mejri, who returned to France, will be tried.
Olivier Christen, head of the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (Pnat), which is responsible for crimes against humanity, said in a statement to RFI on Monday that a total of 11 cases have been opened regarding this file.
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