This article contains distressing descriptions of death
A Swedish man already convicted of carrying out jihadist attacks in Europe has been jailed for life for “serious war crimes and terrorist crimes” over the brutal killing of a pilot in Syria 10 years ago.
A court in Stockholm handed down the verdict to Osama Krayem, who had been jailed for the Paris and Brussels attacks in 2015 and 2016.
Jordanian air force pilot Lt Moaz al-Kasasbeh was captured when his plane came down in Syria during a mission against the Islamic State (IS) group in 2014.
Jordan confirmed he had died after a gruesome IS video appeared to show the 26-year-old being burned alive in a cage.
Krayem had denied the charges, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported, and said he was unaware of the plans for the killing.
While the evidence showed that the fire that killed Lt Kasasbeh was lit by another man, Krayem was also involved in the killing, the court said.
“The defendant, through his actions, contributed so actively to the death of the pilot that he should be considered a perpetrator,” presiding Judge Anna Liljenberg Gullesjo said in a statement.
He was at the execution site “uniformed and armed, and allowed himself to be filmed,” the statement added.
Krayem, 32, who is already serving a 30-year sentence for his role in the Paris attacks and a life term for the Brussels attacks, was given a second life sentence by the court in Stockholm.
The judge added that Krayem’s actions consisted of “guarding the victim both before and during the execution and taking him to the cage where he was set alight”.
The court also awarded compensation to Lt Kasasbeh’s parents and siblings of around 80,000 Swedish kronor ($8,200/£6,198) each.
Lt Kasasbeh was captured when his plane came down near the city of Raqqa during a mission against IS in December 2014.
At the time of his death in early 2015, Jordan – which was part of a US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria – had been attempting to secure his release as part of a prisoner swap.
“It is painful for my parents to be confronted with this event again, but we are grateful that the Swedish authorities want to give us justice,” the pilot’s brother, Jawdat al-Kasasbeh, told Swedish broadcaster Sveriges Radio when charges were initially announced.
Krayem is originally from the Swedish city of Malmo and is thought to have travelled to Syria in September 2014 to fight for IS.
In June 2022, he was sentenced for his role in the November 2015 Paris attacks – in which 130 people were killed – and for planning a separate attack on Amsterdam airport.
A year later, he was also found guilty of terrorist murder for his role in the Brussels attacks that killed 32 people.
