Iraqi court sentences three French citizens to death

An Iraqi court has sentenced three French citizens to death after they were found guilty of joining Islamic State, a court official said.

Captured in Syria by a US-backed force fighting the jihadists, they are the first French Isis members to receive death sentences in Iraq, where they were transferred for trial.

Named as Kevin Gonot, Leonard Lopez and Salim Machou, they have 30 days to appeal. 

Iraqi courts have placed hundreds of foreigners on trial, condemning many to life in prison and others to death, although no foreign Isis members have yet been executed.

Gonot, who fought for IS before being arrested, has also been sentenced in absentia by a French court to nine years in prison, according to the French Terrorism Analysis Center (CAT).

Machou was a member of a European foreign terrorist organization that conducted attacks in Iraq and Syria, according to US officials.

Lopez, from Paris, traveled with his family to northern Iraq before entering Syria, said French investigators.

His lawyer, Nabil Boudi, was critical of the legal process, stating it was "summary justice."

The French government had "guaranteed us that French citizens would all be entitled to a fair trial, even in Iraq."

However, Lopez was sentenced to death "based solely on a series of interrogations in Baghdad jails," Boudi added.