Alexanda Kotey

On 9 October 2019, Charlie Savage, of The New York Times, reported that Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh were in the process of being transferred from Kurdish territories to custody of the USA.

Daesh controlled areas of Syria and Iraq underwent a steady erosion in 2015, 2016 and 2017, with their remaining enclaves collapsing in late 2017 and early 2018. Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, a friend from London, who was also reported to have been one of the Jihadi Beatles, were captured trying to flee the region, on 24 January 2018.

In March 2018 Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh complained that their British citizenship had "illegally" been withdrawn (judges have previously found the UK in breach of international law when stripping citizenship from terror suspects who are not dual nationals), leaving them stateless and at risk of "rendition and torture".

While the UK will not normally extradite suspects if they might be subject to the death penalty, in July 2018 it was reported that British Home Secretary Sajid Javid had written to the US attorney general about the case, saying "I am of the view that there are strong reasons for not requiring a death penalty assurance in this specific case, so no such assurances will be sought." Javid said that the decision was for this specific case, not a change to the government's support of the global abolition of the death penalty. The BBC security correspondent said that the UK opposed the controversial military prison in Guantanamo Bay: if the two are sent there, the UK will not share intelligence for the trial; but if they go to a civil trial, the UK will.

On 10 January 2017, the United States Department of State formally designated Kotey as a terrorist under the authority of Executive Order 13224. This designation prohibited American citizens, financial institutions, and other American corporations, from having any financial dealings with him.

In 2014 and 2015, Daesh held dozens of European and North American captives, and the brutal conditions of their detention were widely reported. Four English-speaking Daesh fighters played a central role in the brutality. Their identities were initially either not known, or security officials did not make their identities known to the public, so the press dubbed the four as the Jihadi Beatles, with the most well-known being known as Jihadi John. Later Kotey was reported to have been one of the other three Beatles.

Alexanda Amon Kotey (born 13 December 1983), known as Jihadi Ringo, is a former British citizen who was captured by the Syrian Democratic Forces, who said he was fleeing from the collapse of Daesh, the short-lived "Islamic State". He has been designated a terrorist by the United States and identified in the press as one of the four Jihadi Beatles who took part in Daesh atrocities. Kotey has denied being a member of "the Beatles" but admits joining the Daesh terrorist group.