Mehdi Nemmouche Appeals His Life Sentence for Role as an ISIS Jailor

An Appeal to Contest the Life Imprisonment Sentence
Mehdi Nemmouche, a former jailor for the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria, was sentenced on March 21, 2025, to life imprisonment, with a 22-year security period, during which he cannot request early release. The verdict follows a five-week trial before the special assize court in Paris, where Nemmouche was found guilty of holding and torturing several hostages, including four French journalists.

Nemmouche has announced he will appeal the sentence, stating that this step is aimed at obtaining an acquittal. According to his lawyer, the appeal is based on legal grounds and not on rhetorical exercises, emphasizing that it is a legitimate fight for his defense.

Damning Testimonies from Former Hostages
During the trial, former hostages gave harrowing testimonies of their suffering. One of the most striking revelations was that their captors valued the lives of the Western journalists more than those of the Syrians, who were regularly tortured under inhumane conditions. The ex-hostages described Nemmouche as a sadistic jailor, often talkative but always ruthlessly cruel.

The prosecutor requested the maximum sentence, describing Nemmouche as a “true sociopath devoid of all empathy,” stressing the threat he poses to society.

A Man Already Convicted for the Jewish Museum Attack in Brussels
Mehdi Nemmouche is also involved in the 2014 terrorist attack at the Jewish Museum in Brussels, for which he had already been sentenced to life imprisonment for four murders. Despite his statements during the trial, in which he insisted that he had joined ISIS only to fight the regime of Bashar al-Assad, his former hostages identified him as one of their captors and formally accused him of cruelty.