Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
PROSECUTORS HAVE CHARGED a Swedish man over the 2014 capture and subsequent killing of a Jordanian pilot, who was burned to death in a cage in Syria by the Islamic State (ISIS).
The 26-year-old Jordanian, 1st Lt. Mu’ath al-Kaseasbeh, was taken captive after his F-16 fighter jet crashed near the extremists’ de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria. He was forced into a cage that was set on fire, killing him.
Osama Krayem, 32, was charged with “participating in the brutal execution” of the pilot, prosecutor Reena Devgun told a press conference.
Krayem, who is already serving a 30-year sentence for involvement in the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris, was charged with “serious war crimes and terrorist crimes”.
The execution of the Jordanian pilot was filmed, and a 22-minute video accompanied by a specially composed religious chant was published.
In the video, the victim is seen walking past several masked ISIS fighters, including Krayem, according to prosecutors.
The pilot is then locked in a cage that is set on fire, leading to his death, according to Henrik Olin, the other prosecutor in charge of the case.
“This bestial murder, in which a prisoner was burned alive in a cage, was staged in a carefully produced video that was broadcast around the world,” Olin said.
“Its publication marked an unprecedented escalation in the Islamic State group’s violent propaganda.”
Prosecutors have been unable to determine the exact day of the murder, but the investigation has identified the location where it took place.
The defendant’s lawyer, Petra Eklund, told reporters that her client admitted to being present at the scene, but disputed the prosecution’s version.
“He denies the acts for which he is prosecuted,” she said.
“He acknowledges having been present at that place during the event but claims not to have acted in the manner described by the prosecutors in the account of the facts.”
Krayem, who is from Malmo in southern Sweden, joined ISIS in Syria in 2014 before returning to Europe.
In June 2022, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison in France for helping plan the November 2015 Paris attacks, in which 130 people were killed.
The following year, he was given a life sentence in Belgium for participating in the bombings on 22 March, 2016, at Brussels’ main airport and on the metro system, which killed 32 people.
“Even though this is a person that’s already sentenced and is serving very long prison sentences in other countries, we will still charge him and we have an international obligation to do so,” Devgun said.
Krayem has been “temporarily handed over to Sweden to participate in the trial”, which is scheduled to begin 4 June, according to the Swedish Prosecution Authority.
“It is painful for my parents to be confronted with this event again, but we are grateful that the Swedish authorities want to give us justice,” Jawdat al-Kasasbeh, the pilot’s brother, told broadcaster Sveriges Radio.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say