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Litigation Tracker | Case Against Xaviera S. (Investigation Name Chico)

YEAR

2023

COURT

District Court of The Hague

STATUS

Appeal Phase

CASE UPDATE

Next hearing to be updated

Case Summary

This case concerns Xaviera S., a Dutch national who travelled to Syria in 2014 to join the terrorist organization ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). Xaviera S. travelled to Syria after marrying an ISIL fighter and joined him in territory controlled by the group.

According to the Dutch Public Prosecution Service, the suspect spent nearly four years living in various ISIL-controlled areas, where she allegedly supported her husband’s activities by maintaining the household. Following his death, she is said to have married another ISIL fighter, continuing to facilitate his involvement with the organization in the same way.

During her time in Syria, Xaviera S. reportedly lived in several houses made available to her and her husbands by ISIL. Prosecutors alleged that these houses had been confiscated from Syrian civilians who had fled or been expelled, and that she had used and appropriated their furniture and other belongings. Based on this, the prosecution charged her not only with membership of a terrorist organization, but also with the war crime of pillaging.

The suspect was also accused of spreading ISIL propaganda online, possessing an explosive vest and a firearm, and making threats against two Dutch journalists on social media.

In January 2018, the suspect was arrested in Türkiye, where she was convicted of membership in a terrorist organization and sentenced to imprisonment. After serving part of her sentence, she was placed in emigration detention and, in November 2019, extradited to the Netherlands, where she was arrested upon arrival.

Xaviera S. was acquitted of the war crime of pillaging. The Court sentenced her to 860 days in prison, of which 720 days were suspended with five years’ probation and 480 hours of community service.

An appeal has been filed against this verdict, with pre-trial hearings ongoing.

Hague Court of Appeal Considers Groundbreaking Cumulative Charging in International Crimes Case

On 11 November at 14:00, the Hague Court of Appeal held a pre-trial hearing in the appeal proceedings against Xaviera S. The suspect was not present but was represented by counsel. A lawyer representing the victims also attended the session.

The primary purpose of the hearing was to consider a proposed amendment to the formal charges against the suspect, as requested by the Prosecutor’s Office.

Advocate-General Veldhuis presented the Public Prosecutor’s proposal to add a new charge to the indictment. This charge concerns an ordinary offence under Dutch criminal law — known as a commune delict — which, under Article 1(4) of the International Crimes Act (Wet Internationale Misdrijven – WIM), can be treated as an international crime when it is closely connected to one.

In addition to the existing charge of pillage (for which the suspect was acquitted at first instance), the Prosecutor’s Office now seeks to add a charge of money laundering, specifically the laundering of property obtained through pillage. According to the prosecution, the suspect used and lived in houses in Syria that had been taken from their rightful owners.

In essence, the prosecution argues that by using these looted properties, the suspect not only benefited from the crime of pillage but also committed money laundering connected to that war crime.

This could be a legal first for the Netherlands: the case would mark the first time that pillage has been charged together with a cumulative ordinary crime of money laundering. There is no known precedent here of pursuing such a combination, making this a potentially groundbreaking development in international criminal jurisprudence for the Netherlands.

On 26 April 2024, the District Court of The Hague issued its judgment in the case against Xaviera S.

The Court found insufficient evidence to support the charge of war crimes (pillaging). It ruled that it could not be established that the houses in which the suspect had lived had been unlawfully seized by ISIL, or that she had knowingly contributed to such acts. She was therefore acquitted of this charge.

However, the Court found her guilty of:

  • Membership of a terrorist organization (ISIL);

  • Preparation of terrorist crimes; and

  • Threatening two Dutch journalists through online statements.

For these offences, the Court sentenced Xaviera S. to 860 days of imprisonment, of which 720 days were suspended under probationary conditions, which meant that she did not have to serve additional prison time beyond what she had already spent in detention.

In determining the sentence, the Court emphasized several mitigating factors: her progress in psychosocial treatment and rehabilitation, as well as the overly long duration of the proceedings.

In addition to the prison sentence, Xaviera S. was sentenced to 480 hours of community service for the threats made against the two journalists. The Court declared the journalists’ compensation claims inadmissible.

Because of her acquittal for the war crime of pillaging and the inadmissibility of the compensation claims, the Public Prosecution Service lodged an appeal against the Court’s verdict.