Facts
In August 2014, Jennifer W. left Germany for Iraq and joined ISIS there.
Between June and September 2015, she conducted the so-called daily “moral patrols” in ISIS-occupied Fallujah and Mossul by inspecting whether women’s behavior and clothing complied with the rules set by ISIS. While conducting such patrols, Jennifer W. carried various lethal weapons with her. For this, she received remuneration from ISIS.
Jennifer W. and Taha A. J. shared a household in Fallujah. In summer 2015, Taha A. J. “purchased” a Yazidi woman and her five-year-old daughter. They were both from a group of Yazidis taken captive during an attack in the region of Sindjar, directed towards the oppression and extinction of the Yazidi religion. Taha A. J. brought the woman and her daughter to his house in Fallujah. Taha A. J. and Jennifer W. kept the Yazidi woman and her daughter as slaves and exposed them to inhumane living conditions. Taha A. J. prohibited them from exercising their religion, forced them to convert to Islam and severely and repeatedly beat them. To punish the five-year old for wetting the bed and as a measure to ‘discipline’ the girl, Taha A. J. chained her outdoors in scorching heat, which subsequently led to the child’s death. Jennifer W. reportedly witnessed her husband’s acts and did not undertake any steps to prevent the death of the child.
Procedure
In 2019, the investigation regarding the crimes committed by ISIS against the Yazidi community in Syria and Iraq led to arrests, formal indictments and trials against several former members of ISIS based on accusations of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and other crimes.
On 13 December 2018, Jennifer W. was indicted for membership in a terrorist organization. The court subsequently added the charges of murder as a war crime and the crime against humanity of enslavement.
On 25 October 2021, the Higher Regional Court of Munich found Jennifer W. guilty of membership in a foreign terrorist organization, aiding and abetting attempted murder as well as attempted war crimes and a crime against humanity. She was sentenced to ten years in prison. The Federal Public Prosecutor subsequently appealed the sentence, demanding life imprisonment.
On 9 March 2023, the Federal Court of Justice ruled on the appeal against Jennifer W.’s conviction, holding that the lower instance court erred when qualifying aiding and abetting the crime against humanity of enslavement as a “less serious case” and ordered a new sentencing hearing before the regional court. On 29 August 2023, the Higher Regional Court of Munich extended the sentence to a total of 14 years of imprisonment. On 7 March 2024, the Federal Court of Justice confirmed the 14-year prison sentence against Jennifer W.