This is a first in Sweden: a woman will be tried for having allowed and encouraged the recruitment of her son by the terrorist group Islamic State (IS). The latter was then 12 years old, he lost his life five years later while in Syria. Returning to Sweden in December 2020, the 49-year-old woman will be tried for war crimes and violating international law.
It was in 2013 that the accused went to Syria and joined, with her husband and their five children, the territory controlled by the Islamic State group.
According to the Swedish press, her husband was killed in 2013, and three of their children will also die in unknown circumstances.
It is for having allowed and encouraged the enrollment of one of his children, then aged 12, that the woman whose name was not disclosed, is today prosecuted.
According to the press release released by the Swedish public prosecutor’s office, “ the child has been educated and trained to participate in hostilities, equipped with military equipment and used in combat and for propaganda purposes “.
In the eyes of Swedish justice, these facts are punishable by aggravated war crimes and violation of international law.
According to Swedish authorities, 300 people have left the country since 2012 to join ISIS. Half of them have now returned to Sweden.
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