A group of French lawyers have protested the death sentences of 11 compatriots found guilty by an Iraqi court of being members of Islamic State, arguing that the accused should not be executed. An RT panel debated the issue.

A letter signed by 45 French lawyers said that it would be “a great disgrace” to allow the accused terrorists to be executed by Iraq, since the death penalty is forbidden in their native France.

Lawyer Samia Maktouf told RT France that there were concerns about the impartiality of the trials, as well as claims by the defendants that the proceedings were rushed. Others said that the rulings were consistent with how France has dealt with foreign fighters in the past.

“If would be strange if France, in whose history there were post-occupation 1945 trials, would suddenly want to deprive Iraq of the right to try these foreigners who came to fight, kill and rape,” argued Pierre Conesa, a former official in the French Defense Ministry.

Watch the full debate below.

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