Isis ‘Beatles’ should face trial in UK, says former director of public prosecutions

QC says a US trial makes Britain look like a ‘banana republic lacking faith in our own institutions of justice’

Mark Townsend
@townsendmark
Sat 12 Oct 2019 20.09 BST
Last modified on Sun 13 Oct 2019 00.00 BST

The UK government has been accused of acting like “a banana republic” after suppressing charges against the British group of Isis militants known as “the Beatles” out of fears that trying them at home could set a precedent for mass jihadist repatriations.

Prosecutors charged one member of the group, Alexanda Kotey, with multiple counts of murder in 2016 but the Home Office made no attempt to bring him home to face justice because, sources say, then home secretary Theresa May felt it was politically problematic.

Kotey was a member of the so-called “Isis Beatles” gang accused of beheading seven westerners, and last Thursday was transferred from Kurdish detention in Syria to US military custody in Iraq ahead of a potential US trial where he could face the death penalty.

Court documents reveal that the 35-year-old was charged with five counts of murder and eight counts of hostage-taking in February 2016 by the Crown Prosecution Service and warrants were issued for his arrest.

However, UK ministers continued to publicly claim it had no evidence against the Londoner, insisting the best chance of prosecution was to send him to the US, where he is now expected to be tried in Virginia, a state which has the death penalty.

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