Britain sends evidence on accused Islamic State 'Beatles' to U.S.

[webfact]

Britain sends evidence on accused Islamic State 'Beatles' to U.S.

By Mark Hosenball

 

FILE PHOTO: A combination picture shows Alexanda Kotey and Shafee Elsheikh, who the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) claim are British nationals, in these undated handout pictures in Amouda, Syria released February 9, 2018. Syrian Democratic Forces/Handout via REUTERS

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The British government has forwarded to U.S. authorities evidence in its possession regarding two accused Islamic State militants known as the "Beatles" being held by the U.S. military and suspected of involvement in beheadings of Western hostages.

 

In a court ruling on Tuesday, two British High Court judges rejected a request from the family of one of the accused which sought to block the transfer of evidence to the United States.

 

In a message posted on Twitter, Priti Patel, Britain's interior minister, confirmed the transfer of the evidence regarding alleged militants Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh to U.S. authorities.

 

"Pleased to say that the further evidence to support the prosecution of Kotey & El Sheikh has now finally been transferred to the US. I sincerely hope that justice for the victims and their families will now be served," Patel wrote.

 

The pair are suspected of membership in a four-strong Islamic State cell known as the Beatles because they were English speakers. The group is alleged to have detained or killed Western hostages in Syria, including U.S. journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.

 

U.S. Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said: "We are pleased with the UK High Court’s decision and we are grateful that the British government has passed its evidence to us and confirmed its commitment to cooperate with our efforts to investigate and prosecute the two ISIS terrorists currently being held in U.S. military custody."

 

In a letter to Patel last month, U.S. Attorney General William Barr said that if Britain granted a mutual legal assistance request for evidence regarding Kotey and Elsheikh, U.S. prosecutors will not seek the death penalty in any cases against them and would not carry out executions if it were to be imposed.

 

The pair are being held by the U.S. military in an unidentified overseas location after being captured in 2019.

 

(Reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-09-23

 

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[Scott]

Off-topic, troll post reported and removed. 

 

[claynlr]

So let me get this right....to get the evidence that Britain had the US had to promise to not seek the death penalty to these 2 that executed at least 4 people, journalists and aid people?

[kensawadee]

6 hours ago, claynlr said:

So let me get this right....to get the evidence that Britain had the US had to promise to not seek the death penalty to these 2 that executed at least 4 people, journalists and aid people?

I think that it is very possible that the treatment that they may get inside prison could me worse than the death sentence.. Let them live long enough to suffer for their cold blooded deeds..

[Stargeezr]

The family of one of these animals  wanted the information to be blocked, sends a lot of information of the family.  I am glad that England was not swayed by the families of these 2 low lifes.  I do hope that they slowly rot in what ever jail they are in

for the rest of their lives.

  Geezer

[Damual Travesty]

11 hours ago, claynlr said:

So let me get this right....to get the evidence that Britain had the US had to promise to not seek the death penalty to these 2 that executed at least 4 people, journalists and aid people?

I just did a cursory read and found this:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/23/is-the-uk-governments-stance-on-the-death-penalty-shifting

If current UK law is no death penalty, I would understand a protocol of asking for assurances from the US not to apply a death penalty, as distasteful as that may sound. But from the Article it seems there is some push back to this in the UK.

Edited September 23, 2020 by Damual Travesty
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