LONG PRISON SENTENCES FOR FORMER ISLAMIC STATE MEMBERS

BAGHDAD, OCTOBER 27 /SRNA/ - An Iraqi court today handed down long prison sentences to seven French nationals convicted of terrorism and membership of Islamic State, unnamed officials said.

The seven were among 47 French nationals accused of links to Islamic State who had previously been in Syria and were handed over to Iraq over the past year.

Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council sentenced six of the defendants to life in prison, while the seventh was sentenced to 15 years. Defense lawyers and representatives of the French Embassy attended the proceedings.

"The seven convicts are considered highly dangerous because of their role in threatening Iraq's national security, destabilizing Iraq and Syria, and their involvement in encouraging terrorist organizations in other countries," the court said in a statement.

In 2014, Islamic State seized large parts of Iraq and neighboring Syria, where it established the seat of its so-called caliphate.

Several thousand suspected Islamic State members are currently held in Iraqi prisons, including 5,700 transferred from neighboring Syria.