Today, Sunday, six French citizens will appear before the Iraqi judiciary, among batches of ISIS suspects who were transferred from Syria, as part of an ongoing judicial process in which Iraq is dealing with thousands of foreign detainees.
An Iraqi judicial source confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the trial session of the six Frenchmen, whose identities were withheld by the authorities, was held, indicating that they belong to a first group that includes 47 French citizens who were transferred to Iraq in 2025 from Syrian territory, where the organization controlled large areas from 2014 until it was defeated militarily.
Prominent among the members of this group is Adrian Guill, who previously claimed responsibility on behalf of the organization for the bloody attack that targeted the city of Nice in southern France on July 14, 2016, killing 86 people.
In a related context, the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council announced, at the beginning of this September, the completion of investigations with 5,704 accused members of the organization who were transferred from northeastern Syria to Iraq, and the referral of their files to the subject courts. The Council explained that this file is being processed in fragmented batches, based on Iraqi laws, the principle of reciprocity, and bilateral agreements and understandings with countries concerned with the nationalities of the accused.
The Council pointed out that the National Center for International Judicial Cooperation will study any initiatives or offers made by concerned countries or international organizations to provide support and assistance to Iraq in managing this file.
The Iraqi judiciary has previously issued sentences ranging from death to life imprisonment against a number of foreign defendants for convicting them of terrorism, murder, and belonging to terrorist groups. It is noteworthy that in 2019, Iraqi courts issued death sentences against 11 French nationals, which were later reduced on appeal to life imprisonment.
The process of transferring the organization’s members began in July 2025 with the arrival of 47 French citizens who were detainees in Syria in preparation for their trial. It was followed in early 2026 by a large operation led by the United States to transfer detainees from prisons in northeastern Syria to Iraq, which concluded with the transfer of 5,704 people.
