Sweden tries ISIS mercenary for burning Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh in Syria

Swedish prosecutors are preparing to formally charge a Swedish citizen of Arab origin, accused of his suspected involvement in the capture and burning of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasasbeh in Syria in 2014, while he was a member of ISIS.

According to Agence France-Presse, a statement issued by the Swedish Public Prosecution Service indicated that it would "indict the mercenary Karim (32 years old) on May 27th, on suspicion of his involvement in the capture of al-Kasasbeh in Syria in 2014, who was burned alive in a cage by ISIS mercenaries."

The trial of the mercenary Karim is scheduled to begin on June 4th in Stockholm, where the Swedish Public Prosecution Service suspects that he "participated in the execution of the pilot along with other ISIS members."

According to the Public Prosecution Service's statement, investigations revealed that the mercenary Karim "forced the pilot (Moaz al-Kasasbeh) and other accomplices into a metal cage." The statement added that "one of them then set fire to the cage, leading to the pilot's death amidst the flames."

The Swedish Public Prosecution Service's statement accuses the mercenary Karim of committing "serious war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria," and he is expected to be sentenced for his involvement in a series of coordinated attacks claimed by ISIS. ISIS mercenaries carried out the attacks in Paris in 2015, in addition to the attacks targeting the Maelbeek metro station and Brussels International Airport in Belgium in 2016.

ISIS mercenaries shot down a Jordanian Air Force plane in Syria, leading to al-Kasasbeh's capture on December 24, 2014. In early 2015, ISIS mercenaries released a video showing al-Kasasbeh being burned alive after being held in a cage.

The French news agency reported that the mercenary, Karim, a resident of Malmö, southern Sweden, had joined ISIS mercenaries in Syria in 2014 before returning to Europe.

Karim had previously been sentenced to 30 years in prison in France in June 2022, charged with complicity in the 2015 attacks on Paris, which killed 130 people. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment in Belgium for his involvement in the attacks on Brussels. March 22, 2016, which resulted in the deaths of 32 people.

France agreed to extradite mercenary Karim to Swedish authorities for nine months last March, where he will undergo investigation and trial before being returned to France to serve the remainder of his sentence.

T/S
ANHA