First French woman to be tried for genocide in relation to violence against Yazidis

Suspected of enslaving a Yazidi teenage girl in 2015, a woman who returned from Syria is set to become the first French woman tried for genocide in Paris after her appeal was rejected.

Sonia Mejri, 36, will be the first French returnee from Syria — and the first French woman — to stand trial for genocide against the Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking ethno-religious minority. The charge carries a possible life sentence, according to sources close to the case.

Mejri, the ex-wife of an Islamic State emir, will also face terrorism and complicity in crimes against humanity charges. She will appear before the special criminal court in Paris, though no date has been set. “My client’s innocence will be declared by the trial judges,” said one of her lawyers, Nabil Boudi.

An anti-terrorism judge initially ordered the trial in September 2024 for Abdelnasser Ben Youssef, an IS emir, and Mejri, accusing them of enslaving a 16-year-old Yazidi girl in the spring of 2015. Ben Youssef “knew that by acquiring” the teenager “and subjecting her to confinement, repeated rapes and severe deprivation, he was participating in IS’s attack on the Yazidi community,” the magistrate wrote.

Mejri was described as the “guarantor of the girl’s captivity” and, according to the indictment reviewed by AFP, held the key to the apartment and carried a weapon to prevent her from escaping.

The charges also include “serious harm to the physical and psychological integrity” of the victim, who was held “in living conditions likely to bring about the destruction” of her community.

The Paris Court of Appeal partially overturned the referral in January, ruling that multiple victims were necessary for a genocide charge. “The appeal judges couldn’t agree on the charges, which says a lot about the fragility of the case,” Boudi said.

But in May, the Court of Cassation — France’s highest court — ruled that a person could be prosecuted for genocide for targeting a single member of a group, if the act was part of “a coordinated plan aimed at its total or partial destruction.”

The indictment chamber reinstated the genocide charges in July, and the Court of Cassation confirmed them Oct. 1.

IS used sexual violence as a weapon to destroy Yazidi resistance and instill fear, as seen in the creation of slave markets. The victim’s testimony is central to the case. Her lawyer, Romain Ruiz, declined to comment.

The woman told investigators she was held captive for more than a month in spring 2015 in Syria and could not drink, eat or shower without Mejri’s permission. She also accused Mejri of beating her and knowing her husband raped her daily.

Her account matches numerous NGO reports describing IS’s campaign against the Yazidis, including the establishment of a “department of war spoils.”

Mejri denied any wrongdoing, saying her ex-husband was the “owner” and she had “no authority” over the girl.

“The defense has filed multiple appeals. The Licra is satisfied that this genocide trial … can finally be held,” said Ilana Soskin, a lawyer for the association.

Ben Youssef, who is subject to an arrest warrant and presumed dead since 2016, is expected to be tried in absentia for genocide, crimes against humanity and terrorism offenses.