A convicted Swedish member of ISIL has gone on trial in Stockholm, accused of conflict crimes for his function within the horrific 2015 killing of a captured Jordanian pilot, who was burned alive in Syria.
“Osama Krayem has, collectively and in settlement with different perpetrators belonging to IS [ISIL], killed Maaz al-Kassasbeh,” prosecutor Reena Devgun informed the district courtroom on Wednesday.
“Osama Krayem, in uniform and armed, guarded and led the sufferer Moaz al-Kassasbeh to a steel cage, the place the latter was then locked up. One of many co-perpetrators then set hearth to Moaz al-Kassasbeh, who had no chance to defend himself or name for assist,” Devgun mentioned.
The case is taken into account distinctive as the opposite ISIL members concerned within the brutal killing, which sparked worldwide outrage on the time, are presumed lifeless, Swedish prosecutor Henrik Olin informed the AFP information company.
Krayem, 32, sporting a darkish blue shirt and with a thick beard and lengthy, free darkish hair, had his again to the handful of journalists and spectators who adopted Wednesday’s proceedings behind a glass wall within the excessive safety courtroom in Stockholm’s district courtroom.
He appeared calm because the prosecution laid out the fees, which may end in a life sentence if Krayem is convicted.
Within the 22-minute video of the killing, the sufferer is seen strolling previous a number of masked ISIL fighters, together with Krayem, in line with prosecutors.
The pilot, who was 26 years outdated, is then seen being locked within the cage and praying as he’s set on hearth.
Prosecutors have been unable to find out the precise date of the homicide, however the investigation has recognized the situation.
‘The harshest penalty’
The defendant’s lawyer, Petra Eklund, informed AFP earlier than the beginning of the trial that her consumer admitted to being current on the scene, however disputed the prosecution’s model.
“He denies the acts for which he’s prosecuted,” she mentioned.
“He acknowledges having been current at that place through the occasion, however claims to not have acted within the method described by the prosecutors within the account of the info,” she added.
Krayem was recognized because of a scar on the suspect’s eyebrow, seen within the video and noticed by Belgian police, which led to the investigation being opened, mentioned Devgun when the fees have been introduced final week.
The pilot’s father, Safi al-Kassasbeh, informed AFP on Wednesday the household hoped Krayem would “obtain the harshest penalty in line with the magnitude of the crime”.
“That is what we anticipate from a revered and honest regulation,” he mentioned.
Krayem is already serving lengthy jail sentences for his function within the Paris and Brussels attacks in 2015 and 2016, 30 years and life respectively.
He now faces expenses of “critical conflict crimes and terrorist crimes” for his alleged participation in al-Kassasbeh’s killing.
Al-Kassasbeh’s killing shocked Jordan, which on the time was taking part within the US-led coalition’s strikes towards ISIL positions in Syria – the reason ISIL gave for killing the Syrian pilot. Jordan had declared a interval of mourning following the pilot’s loss of life.
On December 24, 2014, an plane belonging to the Royal Jordanian Air Power crashed in Syria.
The pilot was captured the identical day by ISIL fighters located close to the central metropolis of Raqqa and burned alive in a cage someday earlier than February 3, 2015, when a grotesque video emerged, in line with the prosecution.
ISIL, which on the time managed massive chunks of Syria and Iraq, had been demanding the discharge of Sajida al-Rishawi – a girl held by Jordanian authorities since 2005 – in alternate for al-Kassasbeh’s life.
Rishawi was sentenced to loss of life “for conspiracy to hold out terror acts” after a triple bomb assault on the Radisson SAS resort within the capital Amman.
The propaganda video, by which ISIL additionally known as for the killing of different Jordanian pilots, was one of many earliest movies launched by the group.
Krayem has been briefly handed over to Sweden for the trial, which is scheduled to final till June 26.
