Sweden jails Syrian man for life over 2012-2013 war crimes

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Stockholm: A Swedish court has sentenced a 55-year-old man to life in prison for his involvement in war crimes during the Syrian civil war. The man, a Syrian-born individual who gained Swedish citizenship in 2017, was found guilty of participating in a deadly shooting against a peaceful protest in July 2012 in the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk.

The court also determined that he served at a Syrian government roadblock between December 2012 and July 2013. During this time, a ‘very large number of civilians’ were arrested and subsequently tortured or killed. Judge Hampus Lilja noted the offences were aggravated due to the high number of civilian casualties.

The man, who arrived in Sweden as an asylum seeker in 2013, denied all charges. The 54-day trial was conducted under Sweden's principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows the nation to prosecute serious international crimes regardless of where they were committed.