French Woman on Trial in Paris for Shooting Her Jihadist Husband in Syria

Vanessa B., 38, is appearing before a special Paris assize court for joining Syria with her two children and for the attempted murder of her husband, Mohamed S., in Raqqa in 2014. She allegedly shot him in the abdomen with a shotgun; he survived serious injuries and reportedly spared her from execution by forgiving her. Mohamed S. said she fired after learning he intended to desert Daesh, while Vanessa B. later said she had suffered severe domestic violence. He fled Syria weeks after the shooting, was arrested in Turkey in August 2014, and was sentenced in France in 2017 to eight years in prison for joining jihadist groups.