The World Today
MADRID, 21 (EUROPA PRESS)
Swedish jihadist Osama Krayem has appealed the life sentence he was given by a Stockholm court in late July for his involvement in the murder of a Jordanian pilot who was burned alive by members of the Islamic State group after being held in a cage in Syria in 2015, in an act that was recorded and published.
His legal team has argued that the Stockholm District Court made "an incorrect assessment of the defendant's intent" and has demanded his full acquittal. If the court does not grant him a full acquittal, he has requested "a less severe sentence," according to his lawyer, Petra Eklund, as reported by SVT.
The aforementioned court ruled that Krayen was guilty of a serious war crime and a terrorist offense, stressing that "no alternative to life imprisonment could be considered" because the act involved "a brutal and videotaped execution, carried out with great cruelty for the purpose of spreading the message of the Islamic State."
According to the investigation, the defendant was present at the scene of the execution, "in uniform and armed," although it was another man who started the fire and directly caused the pilot's death. However, his actions consisted of guarding the victim before and during the execution and taking him to the scene where he was set on fire.
The defendant is currently serving a prison sentence in France, although he is in Sweden as part of an agreement to proceed with the trial. Krayem had been sentenced to 30 years in prison and life imprisonment, respectively, for his involvement in the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015 and Brussels in 2016.
