Alexanda Amon Kotey
Kotey in custody of the US Marshals Service
Born (1983-12-13) 13 December 1983 (age 40)[1]
Westminster, London, England
Other namesJihadi George
CitizenshipStateless person (since 2018)
British (revoked 2018)
Occupation(s)Drug dealer, terrorist
Years active2012–2015
OrganizationThe Beatles cell
Children2
AllegianceIslamic State
Conviction(s)
Criminal penaltyEight concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole
Imprisoned atADX Florence, Colorado, US
FBP Register #11685-509

Alexanda Amon Kotey (born 13 December 1983), known as Jihadi George,[2] is a stateless former British citizen, drug dealer, and member of the Beatles cell serving life in prison at the ADX Florence supermax prison in Colorado for providing material support to the Islamic State and hostage taking resulting in death.[3] Kotey has denied being a member of the "Beatles" but has admitted to serving in the Islamic State in Syria.[4][5] He is serving eight concurrent life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Active in the Islamic State until 2015, Kotey was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces attempting to enter Turkey while fleeing from the collapse of the Islamic State in Syria.[6][7][8] He has been designated a terrorist by the United States and identified in the media as one of the four "Jihadi Beatles" who took part in atrocities in the Syrian Civil War.[9]

Early life

Born in Britain to a Ghanaian father and Greek Cypriot mother, Kotey spent his youth in Shepherd's Bush.[4] The Daily Telegraph reported that he was a supporter of Queens Park Rangers F.C. and dreamed of joining the team when he grew up.[10] Syrian Democratic Forces holding him in detention say Kotey was engaged in a criminal career as a drug dealer in London prior to his radicalisation. He is believed to have converted to Islam in his early twenties and left his two young children behind in Britain.[4][11]

Time in the Islamic State

In 2014 and 2015, the Islamic State held dozens of European and North American captives, and the brutal conditions of their detention were widely reported.[6][7] Four English-speaking ISIL fighters played a central role in the brutality. Their identities were initially either not known, or security officials did not make their identities known to the public, so the press dubbed the four as the Jihadi Beatles, with the most well-known being known as Jihadi John. Later Kotey was reported to have been one of the other three Beatles.[5][9]

On 10 January 2017, the United States Department of State formally designated Kotey as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist under the authority of Executive Order 13224.[12] This designation prohibited American citizens, financial institutions, and other American corporations, from having any financial dealings with him.[citation needed]

The US claims that Kotey was involved in beheadings and known for administering "exceptionally cruel torture methods", including "electronic shocks".[4] He was accused of acting as an ISIL recruiter and being responsible for inducing several other British extremists to join ISIL. Kotey has denied being a member of "the Beatles", but admitted to having joined the ISIL terrorist group.[4]

ISIL-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq underwent a steady erosion in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with their remaining enclaves collapsing in late 2017 and early 2018.[6][7][8] On 24 January 2018, Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, a friend from London who was also reported to have been one of the Jihadi Beatles, were captured in Syria while attempting to flee to Turkey.[7]

Prosecution

The Independent reported that the United Kingdom government was considering agreeing that Kotey and Elsheikh could be transferred to the Guantanamo detention camps.[6] Detention in Guantanamo might mean indefinite detention without charge; if transferred to US custody for a civilian trial and convicted, they would likely be detained at the Supermax prison near Florence, Colorado.[6] Another option under consideration was trial at the International Court in The Hague.[6] Tobias Ellwood of the UK Ministry of Defence had argued that transfer to Guantanamo was inappropriate.[13]

In March 2018, Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh complained that their British citizenship had "illegally" been withdrawn (judges have previously found the UK in breach of international law when stripping citizenship from terror suspects who are not dual nationals), leaving them stateless and at risk of "rendition and torture".[4] UK security minister Ben Wallace confirmed in July 2018 that both men had been stripped of their UK citizenship.[14]

While the UK will not normally extradite suspects if they might be subject to the death penalty, in July 2018 it was reported that British Home Secretary Sajid Javid had written to the US attorney general about the case, saying "I am of the view that there are strong reasons for not requiring a death penalty assurance in this specific case, so no such assurances will be sought." Javid said that the decision was for this specific case, not a change to the government's support of the global abolition of the death penalty. The BBC security correspondent said that the UK was opposed to the controversial military prison in Guantanamo Bay: if the two were sent there, the UK would not share intelligence for the trial; but if they were to go to a criminal trial in the US, then the UK would.[15]

On 9 October 2019, Charlie Savage, of The New York Times, reported that Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were in the process of being transferred from Kurdish territories to custody of the US.[16] On 7 October 2020, Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were brought to the United States to face charges of beheading western hostages.[17]

In September 2021, it was announced that, as per a plea agreement, Kotey would plead guilty to all of the charges against him and would spend the rest of his life in prison, initially in the US and, after 15 years, in the United Kingdom.[18][19] On 2 September 2021, The New York Times reported that Kotey had pleaded guilty to 'multiple charges, including conspiracy to commit hostage taking resulting in death and conspiracy to murder U.S. citizens outside the United States'.[20]

On 29 April 2022, Kotey was sentenced to life in prison at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia for the torture and murder of four American hostages in Syria.[21][22][23]

The federal judge presiding over his case, T.S. Ellis III, recommended that Kotey be placed in a lesser-secure prison for his mental and physical health.[24] On 31 August 2022, Kotey was transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons and moved to United States Penitentiary, Canaan. Despite Ellis's recommendation, Kotey was transferred to ADX Florence on 22 September 2023 with Elsheikh who was transferred there on 3 March.[25]

References

  1. ^ "Counter Terrorism Designations". Treasury.gov. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  2. ^ "Witnesses describe hostages' despair at Brit's terror trial". Associated Press. 6 April 2022.
  3. ^ "A Man Pleads Guilty in Islamic State Beheadings of U.S. Hostages". NPR. 2 September 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Dearden, Lizzie (31 March 2018). "Isis 'Beatles' militants captured in Syria accuse government of breaking law by removing British citizenship". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Another Islamic State jailer who held Western hostages identified as Londoner". The Washington Post. 7 February 2008.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Rob Merrick (11 February 2018). "Britain 'may not challenge' Donald Trump if he decides to send jihadi 'Beatles' to Guantanamo, Justice Secretary says: Britain has yet to make any representations to Washington because it must first 'consider our options', David Gauke says". The Independent. Retrieved 11 February 2018. But he refused to say the Government would intervene if the US President opted to send the pair to the notorious detention centre in Cuba for suspected terrorists.
  7. ^ a b c d Rohit Kachroo (9 February 2018). "Alexanda Kotey image: ITV News obtains exclusive first photo of IS 'Beatle' in detention". ITV. Retrieved 11 February 2018. The bearded Kotey is seen in a tatty grey t-shirt after being captured in Syria in January, trying to smuggle himself into Turkey.
  8. ^ a b Lolita C. Baldur (11 February 2018). "US wants foreign fighters in Syria to face justice at home". National Post. Rome. Retrieved 11 February 2018. U.S. officials have interrogated the men, who were part of the IS cell that captured, tortured and beheaded more than two dozen hostages, including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, and American aid worker Peter Kassig.
  9. ^ a b "ISIS Accomplice Of "Jihadi John" Named As "Quiet And Humble" Londoner". BuzzFeed News. 8 February 2008.
  10. ^ Martin Evans; Josie Ensor; Steve Bird; Patrick Sawer (9 February 2018). "Revealed: How two London schoolboys became the world's most wanted murderers". The Telegraph (UK). Retrieved 11 February 2018. Growing up in west London in the 1990s, Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh had many things in common, not least their passion for Queens Park Rangers - the local football team.
  11. ^ Dipesh Gadher (5 September 2021). "Fourteen missed chances to stop the Isis 'Beatles'". The Times. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  12. ^ "State Department Terrorist Designation of Alexanda Amon Kotey". US Department of State. 10 January 2017. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2018. The Department of State has designated Alexanda Amon Kotey as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, which imposes sanctions on foreign persons and groups determined to have committed, or pose a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.
  13. ^ Ian Cobain; Vikram Dodd (9 February 2018). "Put 'Beatles' Isis fighters on trial, victims' families say: Families express relief and call for Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh to be put on trial". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2018. Relatives of the victims of an Islamic State torture and murder cell known as "the Beatles" have expressed relief that the two remaining members have been captured and said they wanted to see them stand trial.
  14. ^ "So-called 'IS Beatles' El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey dispute extradition". BBC News. 6 August 2018.
  15. ^ "Islamic State 'Beatles' duo: UK 'will not block death penalty'". BBC News. 23 July 2018.
  16. ^ Charlie Savage (9 October 2019). "U.S. Moves to Take 'High Value' ISIS Detainees, Including Britons Who Abused Hostages". The New York Times. p. A9. Retrieved 11 October 2019. However, the government does have an eventual plan for the two British men, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Kotey: The Justice Department wants to bring them to trial in Virginia. They were part of a four-member British cell that the Islamic State put in charge of Western hostages, who nicknamed them the "Beatles" because of their accents.
  17. ^ "Islamic State 'Beatles' charged in US over hostages' deaths". BBC. 7 October 2020.
  18. ^ "ISIS 'Beatles' member Alexanda Kotey to plead guilty". MSN. 31 August 2021.
  19. ^ "Alexanda Kotey: Ghanaian who joined ISIS faces life sentence in US". Ghana Web. 4 September 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  20. ^ Goldman, Adam (2 September 2021). "Member of Brutal ISIS 'Beatles' Cell Pleads Guilty in Hostage Cases". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  21. ^ "US: 'Beatles' jihadi sentenced to life in jail over hostage killings". Deutsche Welle. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  22. ^ "ISIS 'Beatle' gets life sentence for role in kidnappings that led to beheadings". UPI. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  23. ^ "Alexanda Kotey, um dos 'beatles' do Estado Islâmico, pega prisão perpétua nos EUA". G1. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  24. ^ Bucktin, Christopher (28 April 2022). "Brit ISIS Beatle to avoid toughest US prison 'Alcatraz of Rockies' upon sentence". mirror. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
  25. ^ "Inmate Locator". www.bop.gov. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
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