Sentenced to death Swede gets sentence reduced in Iraq

The man was sentenced in June this year after being found in an apartment in Baghdad with more than 300 grams of cannabis on him.

His relatives and lawyer have previously stated that he must have confessed to the crime under torture.

– He was completely bruised and scared, he wants to go home to Sweden, the 35-year-old’s brother told SVT in July.

The penalty is reduced

SVT Nyheter has obtained digital court documents which now show that the death penalty has been lifted and converted into a prison sentence.

The 35-year-old’s father also confirms the information.

– We want to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy for their work with our son’s case, he says in a comment to SVT Nyheter.

The man is a native of Western Sweden and has both Swedish and Iraqi citizenship. He went to Iraq on holiday last December and soon after that the man’s family lost all contact with him.

He has previously been convicted of minor crimes in Sweden.

SVT has taken note of the judgment which establishes the reduced sentence. Photo: SVT

Still three sentenced to death

During the summer, three more Swedish men were sentenced to death in Iraq. They were sentenced for “interference in a shooting” which, according to information to SVT, is about the murder of Mustafa “Benzema” Aljiburi, former leader of the Foxtrot network, who was shot dead in Baghdad in January.

– We always oppose the death penalty regardless of the crime. You can be for harsh punishments, but against the death penalty. That has long been Sweden’s stance, said Foreign Minister Tobias Billström (M) to SVT in July.

SVT has applied to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has not yet commented on the information.

The text is updated.

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