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Crime

Widow of German jihadi rapper jailed for joining 'IS'

October 2, 2020

The German-Tunisian woman was detained earlier this year after a cellphone provided fresh evidence about her time in Syria. She had married two IS fighters, one of whom was rapper-turned-extremist Denis Cuspert.

https://p.dw.com/p/3jJln
The wife of Denis Cuspert on trial
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/D. Reinhardt

A Hamburg court sentenced the widow of German rapper-turned-jihadi Denis Cuspert to 3 years and 6 months in jail for membership of a terrorist organization abroad. Omaima A. was also found guilty of neglecting her duties as a parent, possessing illegal firearms and aiding and abetting slavery.

Omaima A. is believed to have traveled to Syria with her three small children in 2015 to join IS. She is accused of keeping a 13-year-old Yesidi girl as a slave.

Her former husband Denis Cuspert, who used the name Deso Dogg during his rap career, is believed to have died in Kobane in 2018.

Caught by chance

The 36-year-old was arrested earlier this year after rumors of her presence in Germany spread when a cellphone purportedly belonging to her was discovered by a war reporter in Syria.

It was unclear how Omaima A. lost her phone or whether she deliberately left it behind when she decided to begin a new life in Germany, but it was said to contain some 36 gigabytes of data documenting her life with "Islamic State" (IS).

jsi/rt (dpa, KNA)