Sweden charges jihadi over Jordanian pilot burned to death – DW – 05/22/2025
Sweden has charged a 31-year-old with war crimes and terrorism over his alleged role in a 2014 execution in Syria. The case revives memories of one of the most notorious killings by the "Islamic State."
Prosecutors in Sweden on Tuesday said they had indicted a convicted Swedish man for his suspected role in the 2014 capture and execution of a Jordanian pilot by the "Islamic State" (IS) militant group in Syria.
The suspect is accused of helping to force the pilot into a metal cage ahead of one of the jihadist group's most infamous murders.
What do we know about the case?
The 32-year-old Swedish citizen Osama K., originally from the city of Malmo, is suspected of helping in the execution of a captured Jordanian pilot while fighting for IS.
Prosecutors said the suspect is to be charged with aggravated war crimes and terrorist crimes committed in Syria.
"The investigation has shown that the man, armed and masked, together with others forced the pilot into a metal cage," prosecutors said. "The cage was subsequently set on fire by one of the co-perpetrators, and the pilot died as a consequence of the fire."
Prosecutors have been unable to work out the exact day of the murder, but the probe has identified the location where it took place.
"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. Its publication marked an unprecedented escalation in the Islamic State group's violent propaganda," said prosecutor Henrik Olin.
The defendant's lawyer, Petra Eklund, told the AFP news agency that her client admitted to being present at the scene but disputed the allegation.
"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," she said.
The Royal Jordanian Air Force pilot had been captured by the Islamic State after his jet was downed near Raqqa — the de facto capital of IS's self-declared "caliphate" — on December 24, 2014.
US concerned over IS resurgence in Syria
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Images of the death were disseminated online by the jihadist group.
Involvement in Paris, Brussels attacks
K. joined ISIS in Syria in 2014 and later returned to Europe, prosecutors said. In 2022, he was sentenced in France to 30 years in prison for complicity in the November 2015 Paris attacks that left 130 dead.
In 2023, he was given a life sentence in Belgium for his role in the 2016 Brussels attacks that killed 32 people.
France agreed on March 12 to hand over K. to Sweden for nine months to allow for investigation and trial. He will be returned to France afterward to continue serving his sentence.
Proceedings are scheduled to begin on June 4 at Stockholm District Court.
Edited by Sean Sinico
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