Alexanda Kotey

Born in Britain to a Ghanaian father and Greek Cypriot mother, Kotey spent his youth in Shepherd's Bush.[7] The Daily Telegraph reports he is a supporter of Queens Park Rangers F.C. and dreamed of joining the team when he grew up.[8] His Syrian captors say Kotey worked as a drug dealer in London prior to his radicalisation. He is believed to have converted to Islam in his early twenties and left two young children in Britain.[7]

In 2014 and 2015, Daesh held dozens of European and North American captives, and the brutal conditions of their detention were widely reported.[2][3] Four English-speaking Daesh 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][6]

On 10 January 2017, the United States Department of State formally designated Kotey as a terrorist under the authority of Executive Order 13224.[9] This designation prohibited American citizens, financial institutions, and other American corporations, from having any financial dealings with him.

The US claims that Kotey was involved in beheadings and known for administering "exceptionally cruel torture methods", including "electronic shocks".[7] The 34-year-old is also accused of acting as an Isis recruiter and being responsible for drawing several other British extremists to join Isis.[7] Kotey has denied being a member of "the Beatles", but admits joining the Daesh terrorist group.[7]

Daesh 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.[2][3][4] Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, a friend from London, who was also reported to have been one of the Jihadi Beatles, were captured trying to flee the region, on 24 January 2018.

The Independent reported that the United Kingdom government was considering agreeing that Kotey and Elsheikh could be transferred to the Guantanamo detention camps.[2]

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.[2] The Independent described how bleak conditions would be at the Florence Supermax, confinement to a featureless cell, for 23 hours a day, practically no human contact, exercise periods in a small featureless courtyard, near their cell. Another option under consideration is trial at the International Court in the Hague.[2] Tobias Ellwood of the UK Ministry of Defence had argued that transfer to Guantanamo was inappropriate.[10]

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".[7] UK security minister Ben Wallace confirmed in July 2018 that both men had been stripped of their UK citizenship.[11]

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 opposed the controversial military prison in Guantanamo Bay: if the two are sent there, the UK will not share intelligence for the trial; but if they go to a civil trial, the UK will.[12]

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 USA.[13] On 7 October 2020, Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were brought to the United States to face charges of beheading western hostages.[14]