Five jihadists found guilty of holding French journalists hostage
Five jihadists have been found guilty of holding French journalists captive in Syria for the terror group Islamic State.
One of the guilty, Mehdi Nemmouche, 39, has been described by the prosecution as “one of the most perverse and cruel jihadists of the past 10 years” with a “total absence of empathy and remorse.”
“Yes, I was a terrorist, and I will never apologise for it,” Nemmouche told the court in France hours before the verdict was due, while denying he held the men captive.
“I don’t regret a day, an hour, or an act,” he added.
Nemmouche was sentenced to life in prison, and will serve a minimum of 22 years behind bars. Abdelmalek Tanem was given 22 years and Kais Al Abdullah was sentenced to 20 years.
Meanwhile, Oussama Atar and Salim Benghalem, who are both referred to as integral figures in the Islamic State‘s operations and believed to be dead were sentenced to life in absentia.
The trial in Paris heard that journalists Didier Francois, Edouard Elias, Nicolas Henin, and Pierre Torres were terrorised during their 10 months in captivity between June 2013 and April 2014.
Released French hostage Didier Francois, left, is welcomed by his family in 2014. File pic: AP
The four spoke of relentless physical and psychological torture at the hands of ISIS.
During their imprisonment, they were forced to watch the executions of other captives and endure beatings while surrounded by the screams of fellow detainees.
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‘They did plenty of mock executions’
Nicolas Henin was snatched in the Syrian city of Raqqa with photographer Pierre Torres in 2013.
He told Sky News he was just “taken off the streets”.
During his time in captivity, he met American journalist James Foley and British aid worker David Haines, both of whom were later murdered by the notorious British ISIS militants “the Beatles”.
“We were a total of 24. Nineteen men held in one cell and five women in another one…and the plan was to start everything with an execution,” he says.
Released hostages Didier Francois, left, and Edouard Elias, right, leave a local hospital after a medical check-up in 2014. File pic: AP
He remembers the first person executed on the day they arrived was a Russian man, but the murders would continue.
At times, their captors also carried out mock executions, dragging their terrified prisoners out for fake beheadings or leaving them in the boiling sun for hours during mock crucifixions.
“All our captors treated us badly. It is not only about beatings or torture; to keep someone captured in the dark sometimes blindfolded is enough,” Mr Henin said.
Throughout the trial, Nemmouche has always denied being their jailer, but the four former hostages recognised him.
Edouard Elias said he remembers him tormenting them for hours with constant chatter and singing French songs.
Former president of France, Francois Hollande, speaks as the released French hostages arrive home in 2014. File pic: AP
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Nicolas Henin will never forget his face or his manner.
“[He’s] sadistic, narcissistic, and I would say ‘gamer’ because for him nothing is serious. Everything is a game. He wants to win everything…he plays with the court,” he said.
A court sketch shows the lawyers (bottom) and the defendants (top). Pic: Benoit Peyrucq/AFP/Getty
Nemmouche is already serving a life sentence for the fatal attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May 2014.
He carried out the killings for ISIS a few weeks after the French journalists were released.
“This man, who fancies himself intelligent, is devoid of any human sentiment,” Prosecutor Benjamin Chambre said, describing him as a “real sociopath”.
It’s more than a decade since the journalists spent months witnessing and enduring the darkest and cruellest acts of humanity.
Nicolas Henin waits to hear the sentencing of the men who held him hostage in Syria
Asked how he managed to survive, Nicolas Henin paid tribute to his fellow hostages David Haines and James Foley who he says supported him mentally while he was detained.
Ahead of the verdict, he called for sentences that reflected the gravity of the crimes inflicted on them.
And what of the men who seemingly take joy in inflicting such pain and suffering – are they evil?
That’s what they need us to believe, he explains.
“It’s part of the game of terrorists to terrorise people. They need us to believe that they are not human.
“We have to look for the humanity still in them to prevent ourselves being totally petrified by fear facing them,” Mr Henin adds, refusing to be cowed.
“I prevent myself from feeling any hatred against them as much as any fear,” he says.
Israel pounded the outskirts of Gaza City overnight, as Benjamin Netanyahu’s government vowed to press on with a planned offensive on the city.
Families streamed out of the city as the explosions hit.
“I stopped counting the times I had to take my wife and three daughters and leave my home in Gaza City,” said Mohammad, 40.
“No place is safe, but I can’t take the risk. If they suddenly begin the invasion, they will use heavy fire.”
Mahmoud Abedrabo mourns over the body of his son Hamada in Gaza City on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Others said they would prefer to die and not leave.
“We are not leaving, let them bomb us at home,” said Aya, 31, who has a family of eight, adding that they couldn’t afford to buy a tent or pay for the transportation.
“We are hungry, afraid and don’t have money,” she said.
Mourners pray next to the body of Palestinian boy Hamada Abedrabo on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Witnesses said that overnight they heard nonstop explosions in Zeitoun and Shejaia.
Tanks shelled houses and roads in Sabra, and buildings were blown up in Jabalia.
On Sunday, the IDF said its forces had returned to combat in Jabalia to strengthen its control of the area and dismantle militant tunnels.
Smoke rises following an Israeli strike in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
It added that the operation there “enables the expansion of combat into additional areas and prevents Hamas terrorists from returning to operate in these areas.”
This month, Israel approved a plan to seize control of Gaza City. The offensive isn’t expected to start for another few weeks.
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In the meantime, mediators in Egypt and Qatar are trying to resume ceasefire talks between the two sides.
On Friday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said that Gaza City will be razed unless Hamas releases all its remaining hostages and ends the war on Israel’s terms.
Mourners transport the body of Ahmed Balata on 24 August. Pic: Reuters
Around half of Gaza’s two million residents currently live in the city and on Friday a global hunger monitor said that Gaza City and its surrounding areas are officially suffering from famine that will likely spread.
Israel said the monitor ignores steps Israel has taken since late July to increase aid supplies into and across Gaza.
Eight more people died of malnutrition and starvation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Saturday.
281 people, including 114 children, have now died of malnutrition and starvation since the war started, according to the ministry.
The war began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas-led gunmen killed around 1,200 people in southern Israel, mainly civilians, and took 251 hostages.
Since then, Israel has killed at least 62,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry, and internally displaced nearly its entire population.
Two married couples have died after a British car veered off the road and crashed in Germany, according to police.
The fatal accident happened shortly after midnight on Saturday in the trees near a highway in the Kassel district, north of Hesse in central Germany.
The 32-year-old male driver, a 31-year-old female passenger, a 32-year-old female passenger, and a 30-year-old female passenger all died at the scene, despite the efforts of German emergency services.
Sky News understands UK officials have not been contacted for assistance.
At roughly 12.30am on Saturday, the car appears to have veered off the road and crashed into nearby trees around 30m from the road, according to the Kassel police department.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
One of the victim’s phones automatically alerted the emergency services to the incident, who sent an ambulance to the scene.
Soon, fire engines, ambulances, command vehicles and emergency support vehicles were all dispatched.
When emergency workers arrived, the car was lying on its side, wedged between several trees.
It wasn’t until they removed the roof that they found all four passengers.
Pic: Feuerwehr Reinhardshagen
The accident happened on Highway L3229
The emergency workers who dealt with the victims were immediately supported by the specialist mental health workers at the fire station in Reinhardshagen.
“This high number of deaths is an extraordinary operation for our Reinhardshagen Volunteer Fire Department,” said a fire department spokesperson.
“For some of the emergency personnel, it is the first time they have been confronted with death in this way.
“Therefore, a great deal is being done to help us process these images. We will also discuss this among ourselves and within families, because not everyone can easily shake off what they have seen.”
An investigation into the accident is ongoing and is being conducted by the Hofgeismar police station.
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