03/10/2020

Germany sentences woman to three years in prison for ISIS membership and enslavement of Yezidi girl

HAMBURG, Germany — On Friday, a German state court in Hamburg sentenced a German–Tunisian woman, Omaima Abdi, to three and a half years in prison for her affiliation with the Islamic State (ISIS). Abdi is the widow of German-born rapper “Deso Dog” who had joined ISIS in Syria, according to German News Agency (DPA).

Abdi was convicted of failing to care for her children, weapons offences, and aiding the enslavement of a Yezidi girl.

According to the court, Abdi followed her first husband to Syria in 2015 and settled in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa with their three children. After his death in 2015, she married his friend, German rapper Deso Dog, whose real name was Dennis Cuspert.

According to authorities, Abdi fled Syria in 2016 and returned to Germany on a plane from Turkey.

Syrians and analysts alike expressed dissatisfaction with the short length of the sentence.