ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Swedish authorities have charged a Swedish member of the Islamic State (ISIS), who is believed to have committed “serious war crimes” in Syria and to have been involved in the horrific killing of a Jordanian Air Force pilot who was burned alive in a cage by ISIS in early 2015.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority announced on Tuesday that prosecutors have “charged a 32-year-old Swedish citizen with serious war crimes and acts of terrorism committed in Syria between December 24, 2014, and February 3, 2015.” According to the indictment, he traveled to Syria in September 2014 to join and fight for ISIS.
On December 24, Jordanian Air Force pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh was captured by ISIS after his F-16 jet crashed near Raqqa, northern Syria, during a mission as part of the US-led Global Coalition against ISIS. He was taken hostage shortly thereafter.
Weeks later, in January, ISIS released a gruesome video showing Kasasbeh being burned alive while locked in a metal cage. The horrific footage sent shockwaves worldwide and prompted intensified military action against the group.
Swedish authorities stated that the charged individual “is suspected of executing the Jordanian pilot in collaboration and agreement with others.”
According to prosecutors, the suspect and accomplices locked Kasasbeh in a metal cage, which was set on fire, resulting in his death. The execution was filmed and widely disseminated as part of ISIS’s propaganda and psychological warfare.
Commenting on the case, Henrik Olin, deputy chief prosecutor at the National Unit for Security Cases, said on Tuesday, “Today's charges are the result of extensive cooperation between authorities in Sweden and multiple international partners, primarily France, Belgium, and the United States.”
Speaking to Sweden’s state-run broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), senior prosecutor Reena Devgun of the National Unit against International and Organized Crime emphasized the significance of the case.
“It is the first time a person is being brought to trial for one of ISIS’s most brutal and ruthless murders,” she said, referring to Kasasbeh’s killing. “The seriousness of this act is reflected in the fact that the charged person must answer for two of the most serious international crimes; serious war crimes and terrorism.”.
SVT named the 32-year-old as Osama Krayem, a native of Malmo in southern Sweden. The outlet quoted Krayem’s lawyer, Petra Eklund, as stating that her client “denies the acts he is charged with but admits that he was at the venue when of the incident,” referring to Kasasbeh’s killing. He refused to elaborate on his connection to the charges or on his last contact with ISIS, the lawyer added.
Krayem is expected to stand trial in Sweden before being transferred back to France, where he is currently serving another sentence for being involved in the Paris attack in 2015, SVT reported.
ISIS rose to power rapidly in Syria and Iraq between 2013 and 2014.
In June 2014, the group declared a caliphate after seizing large swaths of territory in northern and central Iraq, as well as significant parts of northern Syria.
In 2015, an international coalition led by the United States, alongside Iraqi and Kurdish forces, launched a sustained military campaign to dismantle ISIS's control. Over the following years, the group steadily lost ground, culminating in the fall of its last stronghold in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019.
Between 2014 and 2019, thousands of foreign militants had traveled to join ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Following the group’s territorial defeat, many returned to their home countries, often with combat experience and extremist ideologies, heightening concerns over terrorism and radicalization.
In response, numerous governments have implemented legal actions, surveillance efforts, and rehabilitation programs to counter the ongoing threat posed by returning militants.
