Elsheikh, 34, was found guilty of eight charges, including hostage-taking resulting in death, conspiracy to kill US citizens outside the United States and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, following a federal trial in April. He was sentenced to life in prison on each of the charges, which are to run concurrently. The Sudanese-born Londoner was part of an Islamic State hostage cell operating in Syria dubbed the Beatles by their captors. Elsheikh traveled to Syria from the UK in 2012. He first joined an al-Qaeda affiliate and then Islamic State, where he played a key role in an ISIS hostage-taking operation. This kidnapping plot led to the murders of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig. The conviction also holds him responsible for the deaths of British aid workers David Haynes and Alan Henning, and Japanese journalists Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto. Judge Thomas Selby Ellis handed down the verdict on Friday as family members of the victims watched. “The conduct of this defendant and his co-accused can only be described as appalling, barbaric, brutal and cruel,” Judge Ellis said. “This is an important episode in the history of our country and our justice system,” he added. Elsheikh wore a green jumpsuit to the courtroom, with white trainers and a black face cover and glasses. He chose not to speak before sentencing, but has said he plans to appeal the sentence and will replace his legal team. Diane Foley, James Foley’s mother, addressed Elsheikh directly in court as she read her impact statement before sentencing. Diane Foley, mother of James Foley, speaks after Elsheikh’s sentencing in Alexandria District Court yesterday (AP) “Today is the eighth anniversary of Jim’s horrific beheading. Knowing Jim, my suffering and that of our entire family would have given him his deepest pain,” she said. “However, Jim would also like you both to know that your hate crimes did not win. James Wright Foley lives.” “This trial has exposed the horrific human rights crimes you committed while a member of the Islamic State,” he said. “Your hatred has overtaken your humanity. “You have been held accountable for your corruption (and) … you will spend the rest of your life in prison, but you have also lost. You have lost your nationality, your country … your family,” he added. Speaking outside the courthouse after the sentencing, Ms Foley called it a “hollow victory”. “Our country has lost four of its best citizens, we families have lost our loved ones forever and now Elsheikh and Kotey have lost their freedom, their country and their families. It’s a tragic cycle of violence and grief for everyone involved,” he added. Ms Foley also called on the US government to do more to help Americans detained abroad. “Right now we have over 67 of our American citizens being held illegally, being held hostage overseas simply because they are Americans. I urge our President Biden to use our shrewdest negotiation to bring these innocent Americans home quickly, lest they die in captivity like our sons and daughters did. Let our country learn from our mistakes,” he said. Throughout the trial, the court heard evidence from former hostages, families of his victims, another former Islamic State fighter and US officials who interviewed Elsheikh after his capture. The so-called Beatles, named by the prosecution as Elsheikh, Alexanda Kotey and Mohammed Emwazi, were accused of at least 26 kidnappings in Syria between 2012 and 2015, most of them Westerners. Emouazi, who was killed in a drone strike in 2015, was believed to be the leader of the group and carried out the hostage executions. Kotey pleaded guilty in September 2021 to his involvement in the murders of Foley, Sotloff, Meuller and Kassig and was sentenced to life in prison by a US judge earlier this year. Richard Smith, who heads Britain’s Metropolitan Police’s Counter-Terrorism Command, which gave evidence at the trial, said the investigation to bring Elscheich to justice was “unprecedented in scale, carried out by skilled and determined officers”. “This is one of the most important international terrorism cases ever tried. These were some of the most barbaric acts of terrorism ever seen, carried out with horrifying cruelty and brutality,” he said. In closing arguments at Elsheikh’s trial in April, prosecutor Raj Parekh said Elsheikh had engaged in “systematic, premeditated and relentless abuse and torture” of hostages along with his co-conspirators. “The evidence shows that they grew up together, were radicalized together, fought as high-ranking Islamic State fighters together, held hostages together, tortured and terrorized hostages together, and after Emouazi’s murder, Elsheikh and Kotei were eventually captured together in Syria.” Parekh said. Elsheikh’s defense team denied he was a member of the Beatles and instead claimed he was “an ordinary soldier of Isis”. But his own words – information he confirmed in media interviews while in custody – formed a crucial part of the prosecution’s evidence. Throughout the trial, the prosecution interspersed witness testimony about their time in the Beatles’ captivity with interviews Elsheikh gave to various reporters. In these interviews, he named some of the Western hostages he was tracking, admitted to collecting emails for use in ransom notes, and to beating them. “I have beaten most of the prisoners,” he told an interviewer, in a video played in court. “I had violations. I transgressed physically,” he said, when asked about the beatings. He also tried to justify the mistreatment of prisoners by arguing that it was necessary to keep the prisoners in line because they did not have the proper facilities to prevent them from escaping. “The subjugation of prisoners is used as a preventive measure against escape,” he said. Elsheikh’s defense team tried to dismiss these videos as unsubstantiated, suggesting he was coerced by his Kurdish guards into confessing during his detention. That motion was rejected by the judge, who claimed that well-being checks by US officials who visited him in prison showed no signs of ill-treatment. During closing arguments, Mr Parekh said those clips were a key reason why the jury should find Elsheikh guilty. “Let’s start with the most obvious reason to conclude that Elsheikh was one of the three infamous Beatles: he boldly told you so himself,” he said. “You have watched video clip after video interview in which the defendant admitted to and described in detail his integral and substantial participation in the crimes we have charged here, which constitute the egregious criminal conduct in this case.” The jury heard from several former Beatles hostages who gave harrowing testimony about their time in captivity. Federico Motka, a former Beatles hostage, who described how he and other captives were given dog names by their captors, who subjected them to a “punishment regime” for transgressions. Didier Francois, a French journalist kidnapped in 2013, gave similar testimony, describing the Beatles as “extremely violent and always sadistic.” The jury also heard emotional testimony from several family members of hostages eventually executed by Islamic State in gruesome propaganda videos. Speaking after the sentencing, Carl Mueller, father of Kayla Mueller, said: “I didn’t expect her to speak. He was apparently cold, without remorse, throughout the trial. “I still think he believes he did the right thing.”
