El Shafee el-Sheikh was found guilty of murder of four Americans, when the “Beatles” cell was active in Syria between 2012 and 2015. His lawyers have announced their intention to appeal.
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His group specialized in capturing, torturing and executing Western hostages. El Shafee el-Sheikh, a member of the “Beatles” cell within the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, was sentenced to life in prison by a US court for the murder of four Americans on Friday August 19. His lawyers have announced their intention to appeal.
The 34-year-old, arrested by Syrian Kurdish forces in 2018, was found guilty in April by a popular jury of the murders of two journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and two aid workers, Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller. The federal judge of the court of Alexandria, in the State of Virginia, sentenced the defendant to eight simultaneous life sentences.
Radicalized in London and active in Syria between 2012 and 2015, the four “Beatles” are accused of having supervised the detention of at least 27 journalists and humanitarian workers from several countries including the United States, the United Kingdom or the France. The group, dubbed “Beatles” because of its members’ British accents, had gained grim notoriety for depicting the execution of captives in excruciating propaganda videos. At the trial of El Shafee el-Sheikh, ten former European and Syrian hostages had described simulated drowning, electric shocks or mock executions.
Another member of the “Beatles”, arrested at the same time as El Shafee el-Sheikh, pleaded guilty in September 2021 and was sentenced to life in prison in April. Another alleged member of the group was also charged and presented to British justice on Thursday August 11. The best known of the group, the British Mohammed Emwazi, alias “Jihadi John”, was killed by an American drone in Syria in 2015.