ISIS Fighters Can Pay their Way out of Kurdish Jails
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ISIS fighters being housed in Kurdish jails are being freed in exchange for money according to official documents
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ISIS members in a jail in SDF-controlled al-Hasakah
The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have taken to profiting from its prison population under a so-called "reconciliation scheme", according to which ISIS prisoners are being released in exchange for money paid to SDF authorities.
The Guardian has revealed that prisoners can pay an $8000 "fine" to be freed, provided they also sign a declaration promising that they will not rejoin any armed organizations, and that they will leave parts of northern and eastern Syria under SDF.
Around 10,000 men from different nationalities are being held in these SDF-run prisons in northeast Syria.
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One of the declarations, specifying that the prisoners will pay $8,000 to the "public finance department"
Although the money is being paid out to the SDF's Public Finance department, an SDF Spokesperson denied that the document was official, and said that no such practice was taking place.
In addition to the $8,000, Abu Jafar, one of the released prisoners, paid another $22,000 in bribes to various SDF officials, while claiming that he joined ISIS just to make money. Another released prisoner also had to pay an additional $14,000 in bribes.
![In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had "engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)](https://alpha-en-media.almayadeen.net/media/image/2024/12/21/b4a69f2e-8682-43e4-9d37-49482b304ab3/3.png?v=2&format=webp "In a 2021 interview with Frontline by former US special representative James Jeffrey, he says he had \"engaged with [HTS] via backchannels while serving in President Trump’s State Department. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)")
