A Dutch woman accused of keeping two Yazidi women as slaves in Syria should be jailed for eight years, the public prosecution department said on the second day of court hearings.

Hasna A is charged with crimes against humanity, membership of a terrorist organisation and endangering the life of a child. She was part of a group of 12 Dutch women and their children who were repatriated to the Netherlands from a Syrian refugee camp in 2022.

According to the prosecution, Hasna A and her husband kept two Yazidi women as domestic servants to cook and clean. Hasna A also allegedly forced them to pray. The Yazidis, a Kurdish-speaking people, practice Yazidism, a pre-Zoroastrian Iranian religion.

One of the two women, referred to as S and Z for their own privacy, was in the highly secure court at Schiphol on Thursday and gave a victim impact statement accusing Hasna A of extreme cruelty. “Partly because of people like her I have lost two daughters. She has hurt me very much,”  she said, speaking through a translator.

The victims’ lawyers also read out a statement, including details of the women’s treatment.

The hearings opened on Monday. Hasna A has denied the charges against her. According to her lawyers, her husband, an IS fighter, arranged for the house and the two women to work there.

Hearings will continue on Thursday.