Overview
- The Paris criminal court found Essid guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and complicity, imposing life imprisonment after a five‑day trial.
- Judges ruled he took part in Islamic State’s policy of buying, selling and sexually enslaving Yazidi women and children between 2014 and 2016.
- Two Yazidi survivors testified to being captured during the August 2014 Sinjar assault, separated from their families and subjected to repeated rapes while enslaved.
- Prosecutor Sophie Havard described Essid as “a key link in the criminal chain,” emphasizing active participation without portraying him as an architect of the crimes.
- Essid is presumed dead in Syria since 2018 without proof, his wife raised doubts about his death, and European courts have issued related convictions in recent years.