French court upholds Da’esh kidnapping conviction, with CIJA support at both trial and appeal

On 12 October 2026, the Paris Court of Assizes affirmed the guilt of Kaïs Al Abdallah, a Da’esh adherent initially convicted in March 2025 for terrorist criminal conspiracy for his role in the 2013 abduction of two French journalists, kidnapped by Da’esh in Syria in June 2013. After two weeks of appeal proceedings, the original conviction and 20-year prison sentence against Al Abdallah were upheld by the Court, noting his responsibility for the journalists being held captive ‘contrary to all human dignity’.

CIJA provided extensive support to both the original trial and appeals process. The verdicts rendered against Al Abdallah relied on CCTV footage collected by CIJA investigators. The collected footage details Da’esh operations within a children’s hospital in Aleppo which the group occupied and used as a headquarters and detention facility. CIJA’s Directors of Management and External Relations and Operations and Investigations each provided expert witness testimony in the course of the trial and the subsequent appeal.

The judgment underscores the enduring value of CIJA's investigations and specialist expertise in supporting accountability for crimes committed in Syria more than a decade ago.