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34-year-old El Shafee Elsheikh will be spending the rest of his life in prison after being convicted of the kidnapping and killing of U.S. hostages.
He inflicted crimes on at least eight American, British, and Japanese citizens. Elsheikh was part of an ISIS group called “the Beatles.”
El Shafee Elsheikh, convicted for torture and murder of hostages in Syria, was sentenced today.
Evidence meticulously gathered by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command assisted one of the most complex international terrorism investigations ever launched. pic.twitter.com/xo8nLeoTDL
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) August 19, 2022
Eight years to the day since the death of the US journalist James Foley, El Shafee Elsheikh, has been jailed for life at a U.S. court for his role in the hostage murder scheme carried out against western aid workers and journalists by a British terror cell known as "The Beatles" pic.twitter.com/Q8Hjt7kqvX
— Rohit Kachroo (@RohitKachrooITV) August 19, 2022
Journalists were also among his victims, including Americans James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
He also tortured and killed aid workers Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller..
Elsheikh did not speak following his sentence, but sources say he will file an appeal and claims his defense lawyers were not adequate.
JUST IN: A U.S. federal court on Friday sentenced El Shafee Elsheikh, a member of an Islamic State cell "The Beatles,"Â to life in prison for his role in a hostage-taking plot that led to the beheadings of American journalists and aid workers. #US pic.twitter.com/UKVXdFgvlG
— BNN Newsroom (@BNNBreaking) August 19, 2022
More on this story via Fox News:
According to an April statement by the Department of Justice, Elsheikh helped oversee the terrorist group’s jail and detention facilities where the hostages were held and forced to endure “a prolonged pattern of physical and psychological violence.”
Elsheikh oversaw the captivity of 26 hostages in Syria and “personally participated in the detention of and hostage negotiations for British, French, Italian, Danish, German, Spanish, Swedish, Belgian, Swiss, and New Zealand nationals.”
