Two men from West London, El Shafee Elsheikh and Alexanda Amon Kotey, suspected to be members of Isil dubbed the Beatles have said that the government decision to annul their citizenship denies them to a fair trial.
The duo, who are alleged to have been members of a group of four British jihadists who captured, tortured and killed hostages, including aid workers and American journalists James Foley in northern Syria.
Elsheikh and Kotey were captured in by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Eastern Syria in early January, and are currently being held in Northern Syria.
In an interview with Associated Press news agency, both have denied any involvement in the group's murders or kidnapping, and even went to the extent to state that the death of journalist James Foley was “regrettable”. They denounced the media for spreading stories about the alleged Beatles cell and called the allegations against them as “propaganda”. They also suggested the accusations against them were cooked up as an excuse to kill them with drone strikes in Syria.
ElSheikh stated, “No fair trial, when I am 'the Beatle' in the media. No fair trial.”
Both alleged jihadis also criticised the government's decision to revoke their citizenship as “illegal”. Elsheikh said that the annulment of their citizenship exposes them to “rendition and torture” “of being taken to any foreign land and treated in any way and having nobody to vouch for you. When you have these two guys who don't even have any citizenship... if we just disappear one day, where is my mum going to go and say, 'where is my son'?”
Alexanda Amon Kotey is of Ghanaian and Greek-Cypriot descent and convert to Islam in his 20s. El Shafee Elsheikh moved to Britain from Sudan with his family when he was a child. Both have been interrogated by US officials.
The group's leader, Mohammed Emwazi, also known as “Jihadi John” was killed in a drone strike in 2015. Another member, Aine Lesley Davis was arrested and convicted in Turkey and is now serving seven years behind bars. It is now to be decided what the fate of Elsheikh and Kotey will be as Britain and America debate where the two should be sent to stand trial.
