The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office has brought charges against ISIS returnee Nadine K. before the State Protection Senate of the Koblenz Higher Regional Court. The German national is accused of membership in the foreign terrorist organisation "Islamic State" (ISIS), aiding and abetting genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and others. According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the indictment sets out the following facts:

In December 2014, Nadine K. followed her husband from Germany to Turkey according to the Islamic rite and then travelled with him to ISIS territory in Syria. Subsequently, the couple joined the organisation as members. From spring 2015, the couple stayed in Mosul, where the accused ran the household and brought up their daughter according to ISIS ideology. The family lived in a house whose legal residents had fled from ISIS or had been driven out by it. Nadine K. and her husband stored a large number of explosives and weapons, including hand grenades, Kalashnikov assault rifles and a Glock pistol. In addition, they set up a reception centre for single female members in the house with the permission and payment of ISIS. The couple not only provided accommodation and food for the women, but also assisted them in marriages or divorces before the Sharia court.

Yazidi woman enslaved and raped

From spring 2016, Nadine K. and her husband kept a Yazidi woman as a slave. The husband regularly raped and beat the woman, which Nadine K. knew. She herself supervised that the captive could not escape. In addition, the couple forced the slave to do housework and take care of the children for free. The woman had to pray daily according to Islamic rites and observe fasting times during Ramadan. All this served the ISIS’ declared goal of destroying the Yazidi faith. In autumn 2016, Nadine K. moved to Syria with her family and enslaved wife and lived in ISIS territory until the beginning of March 2019. Only after ISIS’ territorial rule was crushed by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) did the Yazidi woman regain her freedom.

Nadine K. had been in captivity in northern Syria since March 2019 and, after lengthy arrangements with AANES (Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria), was flown out to Germany on 31 March 2022 together with nine other female jihadists and 27 children, accompanied by 30 officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office. Upon the group's arrival, four of the female jihadists, Nadine K., Fatiha B., Gülseren T. and Emilie R., were arrested.

Thousands of ISIS members interned in Rojava

Thousands of ISIS members continue to be interned in the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria. Turkey attacks the area daily, undermining the fight against ISIS. The Autonomous Administration and the SDF have been calling for a solution with international participation since 2019 to no avail, especially for the children of ISIS parents. In the notorious Hol detention camp, six women were freed from ISIS captivity this month in an operation against ISIS that lasted several weeks, including the Yazidis Wefa Elî Ebbas and Sewsen Hesen Heyder, who had been abducted from Shengal in 2014.