A Swedish court on Thursday sentenced a Swedish suspect to life in prison for his role in the burning alive of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh in a cage after he was captured by the Islamic State group in Syria in December 2014.
The Stockholm District Court in Sweden ruled that Swedish national Osama Karim had committed serious war crimes and terrorism for his role in the burning to death of a Jordanian Air Force pilot in Syria 10 years ago.
The court stated that Osama Karim was involved in the killing, even though evidence showed that the fire that killed al-Kasasbeh was set by another man.
"The defendant was present at the scene of al-Kasasbeh's execution, dressed in military uniform and armed, and agreed to be filmed. He contributed decisively to the victim's death and must be considered an accomplice in the execution," Judge Anna Lilienberg Golisio said in a statement issued by the Stockholm District Court.
Throughout the hearings, Osama Karim (32 years old) remained silent.
According to his lawyer, Karim acknowledged being at the site but insisted he only spent 15 to 20 minutes there and had no knowledge of what was about to happen.
For his part, Mikael Westerlund, the lawyer for the civil party in this case, said that Karim showed no sympathy or remorse in court for what he had done.
The pilot's brother traveled from Jordan to Sweden to attend the trial to testify about the pain he continues to share with his family and loved ones.
Under Swedish law, Swedish courts can try individuals for violations of international law committed abroad.
Family details
ISIS captured Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh, 26, after his F-16 crashed near Raqqa in northern Syria. He was caged and set on fire in early 2015, and a video was later released showing him being burned alive.
The organization controlled vast areas of Iraq and Syria from 2014 to 2017 before being defeated in its last stronghold in Syria in 2019.
The suspect, Karim, is reported to have traveled to Syria in September 2014 to fight alongside ISIS.
Swedish prosecutors indicted Karim last May on suspicion of committing serious war crimes and terrorist offenses in Syria. He had previously been convicted of involvement in the attacks in Paris in 2015 and Brussels in 2016 and was transferred from France to Sweden to stand trial in Stockholm.
Karim was among 20 people convicted in 2022 by a special terrorism court for their involvement in a wave of ISIS attacks in the French capital in 2015, targeting the Bataclan theater, cafes in Paris, and the national stadium. The attacks killed 130 people and injured hundreds.
Karim was sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges ranging from conspiracy to murder. French media reported that France agreed last March to extradite Karim to Sweden for investigation and trial.
In 2023, a Belgian court sentenced Karim and others to life imprisonment for murder in connection with the 2016 suicide bombings that killed 32 people and injured hundreds at Brussels Airport and a busy metro station, the deadliest attack in Belgium.
شارك برأيك
Life imprisonment for a Swede for his role in the killing of a Jordanian pilot