Shamima Begum has spoken of her fear that she'll be sentenced to death if put on trial in Syria for joining ISIS and has described herself as an 'angel' who was 'brainwashed' by the terrorist state.
In a recent interview with the Mail on Sunday, she protested her innocence saying she had been radicalised online and sex-trafficked by ISIS.
Begum fled the UK aged 15 to join ISIS in 2015 along with friends Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana.
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She went to Syria and married Dutch-born ISIS fighter Yago Riedjik, who is currently being held at a detention camp in northeast Syria.
They had three children who have all since died, and Begum has been living in the al-Roj refugee camp since 2019.
The ISIS bride's attempts to return to the UK after having her British citizenship revoked have been unsuccessful, with the Supreme Court last year ruling against her appeal.
Male ISIS fighters are currently being put on trial by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Force and the Mail reports claims that some are being executed while others have been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
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They also report that women detained for their suspected part in ISIS have been told their trials will begin in the summer.
Begum is facing allegations that she helped make bombs for the terrorist group, including claims she sewed bombers into suicide vests, and has been accused of being part of the group's 'morality police'.
She told the Mail on Sunday: "I was an angel who was brainwashed.
"I was an angel, you can ask my mum, I was an angel. I don’t want to be tried in Syria."
The ISIS bride's claims of innocence contrast several earlier statements she made about her participation in ISIS, wiht her previously saying seeing the sight of a severed head in a bin 'didn't faze me at all' because it belonged to 'an enemy of Islam', and formerly insisting: "I don't regret coming here."
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The Sun reports Begum is going to face prosecution, with her trial likely to begin in either September or October.
They report she is 'very frightened and concerned' at the possibility of being sentenced to death, having 'convinced herself' she will be executed if found guilty of terrorism despite local authorities not advocating for the death penalty.
Even if not sentenced to death she could face a lengthy prison sentence if found guilty.
Officials will be looking at her actions and previous statements as she claims she 'didn't know ISIS was a death cult'.
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The possibility of being sentenced to death could renew campaigns to allow her to return to the UK as the British government opposes the death penalty.
Begum is likely the only survivor among the trio of girls who fled the UK to join ISIS in Syria in 2015.
She has said she knows Sultana was killed in an airstrike against ISIS, while she heard that Abase was also dead.
Topics: Shamima Begum, Terrorism
Joe Harker