The landmark trial of an Iraqi ISIS member accused of genocide against the Yazidi community is to conclude on Tuesday in Frankfurt, Germany.
Prosecutors accuse Taha Al J of enslaving a 5-year-old Yazidi girl called Rania and allowing her to die when she was tied up outside in the scorching Fallujah heat in the summer of 2015.
A key witness in the trial has been Rania’s mother, who Taha Al J is also accused of keeping as a slave and abusing.
Although German courts have already convicted ISIS members who returned to Germany for crimes against the Yazidis, Tuesday’s judgment could be the first time that a court decides that what happened to the community is genocide.
About 10,000 Yazidis were killed when ISIS swept through northern Iraq in 2014. Around 7,000 women and girls were enslaved.
Taha Al J is believed to have joined ISIS in early 2013 but was arrested in Greece in May 2019. He is accused of purchasing and beating Rania and her mother, and depriving them of food.
They were kidnapped in the summer of 2014 after ISIS invaded the Sinjar region of Iraq.
Last month, Taha Al J’s wife Jennifer Wenisch was jailed for 10 years by a Munich court for the death of Rania on charges of crimes against humanity and membership of a terrorist organisation.
The Yazda rights group says Taha Al J tied Rania up outside in 45°C as a punishment for wetting the bed.
He is being tried on charges of genocide and murder.
He is also accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes and human trafficking.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
ENGLAND SQUAD
Team: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ben Te'o, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Dylan Hartley, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Maro Itoje, 6 Courtney Lawes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 8 Sam Simmonds
Replacements 16 Jamie George, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 George Kruis, 20 Sam Underhill, 21 Danny Care, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Jack Nowell
if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Company%20profile
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
