Sabri Essid did not wait until he was in Syria to treat women and children as objects. His desire to dominate, his violence and perversion all showed themselves well before he joined the ranks of the Islamic State organization (IS). Since Monday, March 16, the French jihadist has been tried in absentia on charges of "genocide" and "crimes against humanity" committed against the Yazidi people, an Iraqi ethnic and religious minority. He stands accused of having bought and raped several sex slaves as part of the terrorist group's vast plan to eradicate the Yazidis.
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French court examines Yazidi genocide for first time in trial of jihadist
Yet Essid also had a life before he turned to jihad – one that sheds significant light on the torturer he ended up becoming. On Wednesday, March 18, his ex-wife, Samia (whose name has been changed for anonymity), shared her account of that life with the Paris criminal court. The 39-year-old mother testified by videoconference from a prison in eastern France, where she is being held ahead of her trial for her stay in Syria. As soon as she appeared on-screen, with a face that had been marked by suffering, it was clear that she was a broken woman – and that the agent of her destruction had been Essid.
