Dutch woman sentenced to 9 years on appeal for enslaving woman in Syria

The court of appeal has sentenced 34-year-old Hasna A., a returnee from Syria in Enschede, to nine years in prison. The prosecution had recommended a ten-year term, matching the 2024 district court ruling.

The international crimes chamber of the Court of Appeal in The Hague found that in 2015, A. held a Yazidi woman as a slave while in the Islamic State (IS) caliphate. The act is classified as a crime against humanity. A. is the first individual in the Netherlands to be tried for a crime committed against Yazidis, a religious and ethnic Kurdish minority.

In November 2022, A. was among 12 Dutch women repatriated by the Dutch government from the Al-Roj detention camp in northern Syria, where they had been detained following their stay in the IS caliphate.

In the court documents, the Yazidi woman who was enslaved is identified as Z. Another woman, S., was also included in the charges, but Hasna A. was cleared of exploiting her because there was insufficient evidence. The court highlighted that IS treated Yazidi women as sabaya (slaves) and sold them at “slave markets” for prices ranging from 200 to 1,500 dollars.

A. received the verdict via a video link from the prison in Zwolle. The court noted that Hasna’s son, just four years old when they departed to Syria to join IS in 2015, suffers from developmental disorders. She denied him essential care by keeping him in a war zone, even though there were chances to leave.

The court highlighted that he spent a large part of his childhood in a war zone, exposed to brutal violence and bombings. She later married an IS fighter, had three more children, then divorced and moved in with another IS fighter in Raqqa, who kept Z. as a slave.

The court stated, “Alongside him, she infringed on the personal freedom of the Yazidi victim in a humiliating way. The victim was held as a slave for their own use.” Hasna A. made Z. carry out strenuous household work and look after her son, while also calling her an “infidel” and forcing her to engage in Islamic prayer. A. has continously denied the allegations.

The court considered A.’s diminished criminal responsibility when imposing the prison sentence. While the 2024 district court had rejected the compensation claims on procedural grounds, the court of appeal has now granted a financial settlement. Z.’s lawyers had earlier requested 30,000 euros for emotional and non-material damages.

A. was prosecuted by the Netherlands under the principle of universal jurisdiction, enabling courts to try serious offenses, including crimes against humanity, no matter where they occurred.