Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.German authorities are fighting to stop a teenager who joined Isis from being sentenced to death by Iraqi prosecutors.
Linda Wenzel, who was captured in Mosul in July, was charged alongside three of her countrywomen.
Under Iraqi law, the 16-year-old could be sentenced to death, although authorities would have to wait until she was 22 before she was executed.
However, German diplomats are confident she will be spared the death penalty, although she faces a long jail term in Iraq, Der Spiegel magazine reported.
The teenager is believed to have converted to Islam after she was groomed online by an Isis recruiter.
She ran away from the small town of Pulsnitz, near Dresden, and flew to the Tukrish capital Istanbul, before she was smuggled into Iraq.
There, she reportedly married a Chechen fighter, who was later killed during the battle for Mosul.
Footage of Ms Wenzel's capture shows her crying as she was dragged away by a group of soldiers, many of whom are laughing.
She reportedly suffered a gunshot wound to her left thigh and another injury to her left knee during a helicopter attack before she was captured.
Ms Wenzel's father, a construction worker, said he "collapsed" when he heard on the radio that his daughter was alive.
"My colleagues came over to me," he told German tabloid, Bild. "I had to leave and go and sit at a service station where I cried."
Holding a photo of Ms Wenzel that was taken by an Iraqi soldier, he said: "That is my little one.I recognised her from a little scar across one eye that she got as a child from a garden swing. I have never seen my little one look so serious and so sad."
Iraq's opening of criminal proceedings against the teenager will disappoint German authorities, who hoped to extradite her to her homeland.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments