German on trial over death of 5-year-old Yazidi slave girl
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}27-year-old German Jennifer W. covers her face as she arrives at a court in Munich, southern Germany, Tuesday, April 9, 2019. The woman is accused of letting a 5-year-old girl she and her husband held as a slave in Islamic State-held territory in Iraq die of thirst. (Peter Kneffel/dpa via AP)
A German woman has gone on trial on allegations that as an Islamic State member she allowed a 5-year-old girl she kept with her husband as a slave to die of thirst in Iraq.
The 27-year-old, identified only as Jennifer W. in line with privacy rules, is charged with murder, a war crime and membership in a terrorist organization in the Munich trial that opened Tuesday.
Prosecutors say the woman belonged to the IS "morality police" and she and her husband bought the Yazidi girl as a slave in 2015. The husband chained the girl outdoors as punishment for wetting her mattress and W. allegedly did nothing to prevent her dying.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The girl's mother is a co-plaintiff in the case and her lawyers include Amal Clooney, who wasn't in court Tuesday.