Prosecutors say Elsheikh was a member of the Islamic State terrorist cell operating in Iraq and Syria, whose members were nicknamed “The Beatles” for their British accents. The cell sparked outrage around the world following the release of videos of the executions of American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. Image: El Shafee Elsheikh found guilty of hostage-taking and conspiracy to kill journalists and humanitarian aid workers in Syria. Photo: AP U.S. and British authorities say Islamic State Beatles were responsible for a total of 27 killings, including British volunteers David Haynes and Alan Henning, and U.S. aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig. The sentences in the US District Court in Alexandria revolved around the deaths of four American hostages: Foley, Steven Sotloff, Peter Kassing and Kayla Mueller. The court debated for four hours before finding El Shafee Elsheikh guilty of all eight charges. Who is El Shafee Elsheikh? El Shafee Elsheikh came to the United Kingdom as a child refugee from Sudan and lived in White City, west London. Image: Arrested by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in January 2018 The 33-year-old former British national traveled to Syria in 2012 and joined Al Qaeda before being radicalized by Islamic State. He was arrested by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in January 2018, after the group’s leader, Mohamed Emouazi, nicknamed Jihadi John, was killed in a drone strike. The hostages gave the members of the cell a name associated with the members of the British band The Beatles. Among the men was Alexanda Kotey, who has already been jailed. Ain Davis, detained in Turkey, is not considered part of the cell by the US Department of Justice. Elsheikh is one of the most high-profile Islamic State jihadists on trial in the United States, and his appearance in federal court is the result of complicated negotiations between the United States and the United Kingdom. In 2018, he was stripped of his British citizenship. Read more: Who are the other Islamic State fighters nicknamed “The Beatles”? What did Elseich do? Elsheikh was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and deadly hostage-taking. He was accused of playing a leading role in the kidnapping plot that resulted in the death of four Americans: James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Kayla Mueller and Peter Kasing. The court documents show that throughout the captivity of the American hostages and others, Elsheikh and Kotey supervised the detention facilities held by the detainees and were responsible for their transfer between the facilities. Mr Kassing, Mr Foley and Mr Sotloff were beheaded in videos which were then posted on the Internet and distributed around the world. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 9:21 Full interview: Beatles jihadists speak on Sky in 2018 Ms Mueller was tortured and raped by Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi before she was killed. During the trial, Assistant Attorney General John Gibbs told jurors that Elseich “played a central role in a brutal hostage-taking plot.” He has been described as the group’s main bodyguard, with hostages saying he carried out most of the torture. Read more: Islamic State terrorists called “Beatles” admit to mistreating American humanitarian “Absolutely scary” – what we learned in the opening remarks During the opening remarks, a Virginia court heard that Elsheikh and his counterparts were “absolutely terrifying” and held more than 20 Western hostages in a jail called “Desert.” The victims were subjected to “relentless and unpredictable” abuse, prosecutors said, adding that the perpetrators “appeared to be enjoying the beating”. Image: Elsheikh appeared in court wearing a light blue shirt and dark-rimmed glasses during the trial They gave them “dead legs” and put them in “stressful places” while they were “threatened with murder”, as it became known in court. An example was given of an unnamed man who was beaten 25 times on his 25th birthday. The defense did attempt to argue that Elsheikh could not be definitively identified as a member of the terrorist cell, an argument that proved unsuccessful. “Intense” beatings and sending in the “box” – testimony of a hostage Throughout the trial, several victims testified in court – one of them was the Italian humanist Federico Motka. He suffered 14 months of barbarism at the hands of the Islamic State Beatles – the largest of any hostage in the group – after being abducted near a refugee camp on the Turkish border in 2013. He told the court that there were at least three Britons in the kidnapping group. They kept their faces covered, but prosecutors said they were discriminated against because of their preferences for punishment. He said that Elsheikh “liked the fight” and once put Mr. Foley in a headlock so tight that he fainted. During the summer of 2013, Mr Motka explained that they were being held at a location known as “the box”, where he and others were subjected to a “punishment regime” that included regular beatings and forced stress. Image: Peter Kassig’s parents, Ed and Paula Kassig, pictured in 2014. Image: AP “Part of me is sure to die” – a moving letter from an American hostage As the trial entered its second week, jurors heard the moving testimony from the father of Peter Kasing, a humanist who was executed by the terrorist group after his arrest in 2013. Ed Kassing went to the witness stand to read a heartbreaking letter written to him by his son while he was a prisoner. “Dad, I’m paralyzed here. I’m afraid to retaliate. Part of me still has hope. Part of me is certain to die,” he said. Mr Kassig’s long, handwritten letter was handed over to his family by a freed hostage. He wrote that his captors tried to tell him and the other hostages that they had been abandoned by their families and their countries because they refused to comply with the demands of the Islamic State. “But, of course, we know you do what you can and much more. Do not worry Dad, if I go down I will think of nothing but what I know to be true, that you and Mom love me more than the moon,” he continued. Even the judge, TS Ellis III, seemed to hold back tears as he called for an early termination of the proceedings immediately after the deposition. 300 days in captivity – the survivor describes meeting the Beatles French hostage Nicholas Henin was held captive for 300 days before being released in July 2014. Within days of the abduction, he said he had escaped, but was captured by ISIS fighters and taken to a police station. Use the Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 0:43 Nicholas Henin talks about his test in 2018 Authorities immediately returned him to his captors, who beat him, drained him in the air, handcuffed him, and then left him in a cell for 11 days with his wrists chained to his ankles. He explained that he had met the Beatles in the last months of his captivity. They had already been identified by other hostages as highly sadistic, he said. He said the three Beatles would regularly be beaten and that the Beatles, whom they named “Ringo”, would often give hostage lectures to justify their capture.
