A court on Wednesday barred the British government from providing US prosecutors with evidence against two Islamic State militants suspected in the beheadings of Western hostages, citing the prospect that the men could face the death penalty if tried and convicted in the US.
The ruling by the British Supreme Court blocks an earlier decision by the country’s authorities to cooperate with the US by sharing information about El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey.
The British men, captured two years ago by a Kurdish-led, US-backed militia, are accused of participation in a brutal Islamic State group known for beheadings and barbaric treatment of US aid workers, journalists and other hostages in Syria.
The decision is a setback for the US Department of Justice, where officials for years have been investigating the killings.
US officials have not announced any charges against the men, but have spoken publicly about their desire to see members of the cell, known as “The Beatles” for their British accents, face justice.
They were transferred to US custody in October last year as Turkey invaded Syria to attack Kurds who have been battling the Islamic State alongside US forces.
“We are disappointed with the UK Supreme Court’s decision and are considering the appropriate next steps,” Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said.
“As our investigation of these individuals continues, we will work with our UK counterparts on a path forward, consistent with our shared commitment to ensuring that those who commit acts of terror are held accountable for their crimes,” he said.
It was not clear what those next steps would be, or whether the decision might prompt the department to remove the possibility of the death penalty from any eventual prosecution.
US Attorney General William Barr said in a private meeting last year with victims’ relatives that he wanted to see the militants brought to justice.
The US and British governments have an agreement to share documents, records and other evidence in criminal investigations.
In 2015, the department asked for evidence that Britain had gathered on the “Beatles,” saying it was doing its own investigation into Americans who were murdered in Syria.
Although the death penalty has been abolished in the UK, British authorities were willing to provide their US counterparts with evidence against Elsheikh and Kotey even without assurances that the men would not be executed if convicted.
British authorities said it would not be right to withhold evidence given the horrific nature of the allegations, but some British lawmakers called on the government to reserve its position.
In July 2018, after lawyers for Elsheikh demanded a review of the decision to allow the men to be put on trial in the US, the British Home Office temporarily suspended cooperation with the US.
Lord Brian Kerr, a judge on the British Supreme Court, said that there was no doubt the crimes the men are accused of are “dreadful” and “of the most awful nature.”
However, he said it was unlawful to turn over evidence to a foreign country that could be used in pursuit of a death penalty prosecution.
“It follows that no further assistance should be given for the purpose of any proceedings against Mr El Sheikh in the United States of America without the appropriate death penalty assurances,” he wrote.
The British leader of the “Beatles” cell, Mohammed Emwazi, who was also known as “Jihadi John,” was killed in a 2015 drone strike.
A fire caused by a burst gas pipe yesterday spread to several homes and sent a fireball soaring into the sky outside Malaysia’s largest city, injuring more than 100 people. The towering inferno near a gas station in Putra Heights outside Kuala Lumpur was visible for kilometers and lasted for several hours. It happened during a public holiday as Muslims, who are the majority in Malaysia, celebrate the second day of Eid al-Fitr. National oil company Petronas said the fire started at one of its gas pipelines at 8:10am and the affected pipeline was later isolated. Disaster management officials said shutting the
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday accused Denmark of not having done enough to protect Greenland, when he visited the strategically placed and resource-rich Danish territory coveted by US President Donald Trump. Vance made his comment during a trip to the Pituffik Space Base in northwestern Greenland, a visit viewed by Copenhagen and Nuuk as a provocation. “Our message to Denmark is very simple: You have not done a good job by the people of Greenland,” Vance told a news conference. “You have under-invested in the people of Greenland, and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this
UNREST: The authorities in Turkey arrested 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deported a BBC correspondent and on Thursday arrested a reporter from Sweden Waving flags and chanting slogans, many hundreds of thousands of anti-government demonstrators on Saturday rallied in Istanbul, Turkey, in defence of democracy after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu which sparked Turkey’s worst street unrest in more than a decade. Under a cloudless blue sky, vast crowds gathered in Maltepe on the Asian side of Turkey’s biggest city on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration which started yesterday, marking the end of Ramadan. Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), which organized the rally, said there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but
JOINT EFFORTS: The three countries have been strengthening an alliance and pressing efforts to bolster deterrence against Beijing’s assertiveness in the South China Sea The US, Japan and the Philippines on Friday staged joint naval drills to boost crisis readiness off a disputed South China Sea shoal as a Chinese military ship kept watch from a distance. The Chinese frigate attempted to get closer to the waters, where the warships and aircraft from the three allied countries were undertaking maneuvers off the Scarborough Shoal — also known as Huangyan Island (黃岩島) and claimed by Taiwan and China — in an unsettling moment but it was warned by a Philippine frigate by radio and kept away. “There was a time when they attempted to maneuver
RSS