The prosecutor has today appealed the District Court's conviction of a woman for genocide, crimes against humanity and serious war crimes. Instead of 12 years' imprisonment, the prosecutor demands life imprisonment.

On 11 February, the Stockholm District Court sentenced a woman to 12 years’ imprisonment for genocide, crimes against humanity and serious war crimes committed in Syria in 2015. The prosecutor requests that the woman be sentenced to life imprisonment or a longer fixed-term sentence. “In my opinion, there are several reasons why the woman should receive a more severe sentence, including the fact that crimes against humanity have not previously been tried by Swedish courts and that outright enslavement, which in my opinion was the case, should amount to a higher penalty. There are also very few international judgments on crimes of this kind that are directed against children and for that reason there is of interest to get guidance on how the punishment should be assessed” says senior prosecutor Reena Devgun. Case number in Stockholm District Court: B 3210-23. Contact Due to other commitments, the prosecutor is not available for questions. Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20

Prosecutors have requested that a 17-year-old be surrendered to Sweden on suspicion of serious weapon offences in connection with a shooting against the Israeli embassy in Stockholm 1 October 2024. The 17-year-old is also suspected of a murder in Hallstahammar. The prosecutors’ request will be tried today in a Danish Court.

“I have issued a Nordic Arrest Warrant and requested the young man to be surrendered from Denmark to Sweden for legal proceedings. The man is held in custody on suspicion of the explosion by the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen 2 October 2024. Sweden and Denmark have established a close-knit collaboration”, says Senior Prosecutor Cecilia Holmbom. The 17-year-old is arrested in absentia in Sweden on probable cause for two cases of serious weapon offenses. Stockholm District Court case number: B 21950-24. The prosecutor has also requested that the young man be surrendered to Sweden by way of a Nordic Arrest Warrant on suspicion of a murder in Hallstahammar. “The 17-year-old is suspected of shooting another man to death in Hallstahammar on 19 September 2024. He was identified in connection with the crimes against the Israeli embassies in Stockholm and Copenhagen. The purpose of the Nordic Arrest Warrant is to bring him to justice for the murder in Sweden as soon as possible”, says Senior Prosecutor Anna Elmlöv. Västmanlands District Court case number: B 6527-24. Surrender under a European arrest warrant Contact today, 5 February Senior Prosecutor Cecilia Holmbom will be available to the media today between 5.15 and 5.45 pm, on +46 10 562 61 02. She is in charge of the investigation regarding serious weapon offences in connection with the shooting against the Israeli embassy. She can only give interviews on that case. Senior Prosecutor Anna Elmlöv will be available to the media today between 3 and 3.30 pm, on +46 10 562 67 71. She is in charge of the investigation about a murder in Hallstahammar. She can only give interviews on that case. Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20

The investigation concerning a cable break between Sweden and Latvia in the Baltic Sea has clarified that it is not a case of gross sabotage. Therefore, a decision has been made to lift the seizure of the ship suspected of being involved in the cable break.

– The investigation now clearly shows that it is not a case of sabotage. It has been established that a combination of weather conditions and deficiencies in equipment and seamanship contributed to the cable break. The investigation has been systematic and thorough in order to clarify the incident, says Senior Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist at the National Security Unit. On Sunday 26 January 26 damage was discovered on a communication cable between Sweden and Latvia in the Baltic Sea. An investigation into gross sabotage was initiated and a ship suspected of being involved in the cable break was seized. The primary purpose of the investigation has been to investigate the suspicions of crimes that may have been directed against Swedish interests. – After interrogations, seizures that have been made and analyzed, and crime scene investigations that have been carried out, we can say with certainty that this is not a case of sabotage. At the same time, we have been able to establish that it is the ship that was seized that caused the cable break, says Mats Ljungqvist. The Security Police is conducting the investigation under the leadership of Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist at the National Security Unit. Several authorities are involved and contributing to the investigation work. – We have had very good cooperation with several Swedish authorities. I would particularly like to highlight the Coast Guard and the Police Authority as well as the Armed Forces. Without the good cooperation, the investigation would not have been able to reach the investigative stage that we have now reached, says Mats Ljungqvist. The investigation is still continuing to determine whether there are other crimes that can be suspected in connection with the cable break. Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20

Prosecutors have today requested the Stockholm District Court to detain a Swedish citizen suspected of severe war crimes and terrorist crimes in Syria.

On December 24 in 2014 an aircraft belonging to the Royal Jordainan Air Force was shot down in Syria. The pilot was captured by the Islamic State (IS) the same day near Raqqa, Syria. The man now requested for detention is suspected of having executed the pilot, together with other perpetrators belonging to IS. The investigation has shown that the man, armed and masked, together with others forced the pilot into a metal cage. The cage was subsequently set on fire by one of the co-perpetrators. The pilot had no means to defend himself or seek help and died as a result of the fire. The criminal act was filmed, and the video, which in addition to the execution itself manifests IS propaganda and terrorist activities, has been widely spread. "The terrorist organization IS engaged in battle in the war in Syria. The pilot was incapacitated and subjected to an extremely cruel act in violation of the laws of war. The fact that the execution was then filmed and the film distributed constitutes an additional violation of his person," says Senior Prosecutor Reena Devgun. The execution is considered one of the most brutal murders committed by IS during the war in Syria. "The video delivers a clear message aimed at states attacking IS, and the manner in which it was produced and disseminated could have caused harm to a country or an intergovernmental organization. It is a brutal film where the pilot was used as a tool in IS's propaganda machinery. No other individual has been prosecuted for this act, and the man we have requested to be detained will be the first where prosecution may take place for this act," says Deputy Chief Prosecutor Henrik Olin. The suspected crime period is December 24, 2014 – February 3, 2015. The Swedish citizen has previously been convicted in Belgium and France for terrorist crimes and will be requested for transfer in the event of a trial in Sweden. The investigation is being conducted jointly by the Swedish Police Authority’s National Operations Department and the Swedish Security Service under the direction of prosecutors from the National Unit Against Organised Crime and the National Security Unit. The prosecutors will not be available for further comments until a decision on prosecution has been made. Stockholm District Court Case Number: B 3980-24. What are genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes? Contact Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20

The investigation into a suspected rape and two cases of sexual assault at a hotel in central Stockholm on October 10 2024 is closed. The reason is evidence problems.

“During the course of the investigation, there has been a designated person suspected on reasonable grounds of rape and two cases of sexual assault, but my assessment is that the evidence is not sufficient to proceed and the investigation is therefore closed. The designated person has not been notified of suspicion of a crime”, says Senior Prosecutor Marina Chirakova, who has been the head of the investigation. The Prosecution Authority’s case number: AM-152477-24. Contact Senior Prosecutor Marina Chirakova is available today, December 12, on +46 10 562 69 10 until 1.45 PM. Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20

In response to media reports about a suspected rape in Stockholm, the prosecutor can confirm that a criminal report has been submitted to the police.

According to the report, the incident took place on October 10 at a hotel in central Stockholm. Case number at the Swedish Prosecution Authority: AM-152477-24. The investigation is being led by senior prosecutor Marina Chirakova, who is unable to provide more information at this time. Further information will be provided in a press release when available. Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20

The prosecutor has today indicted a woman with genocide, crimes against humanity and serious war crimes in Raqqa, Syria, between 2014 and 2016. This indictment is the first in Sweden to try the Islamic State’s attack on the Yazidi minority. It is also the first indictment in Sweden for crimes against humanity. The prosecutor is available to the media by phone after today’s press conference.

The investigation shows that the Islamic State, IS, attacked the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq in August 2014. A large number of Yazidi people were killed and thousands of women and children were captured and taken to the area controlled by the IS in Syria. “Under IS control, the Yazidi minority were deprived of basic freedoms and rights. Women, children and men were regarded as property and subjected to enslavement, slave trading, sexual slavery, forced labour, deprivation of liberty and extrajudicial executions. The charged offences comprise part of the systematic abuse and offences these women and children were subjected too during their time in IS’ captivity. IS sought to destroy the Yazidi people on an industrial scale,” says Senior Prosecutor Reena Devgun leading the investigation. The 52-year-old woman is suspected of, in complicity with other perpetrators, between 2014 and 2016, buying or receiving civilian women and children belonging to the Yazidi minority in her residence in Raqqa in Syria. According to the indictment, she treated them as slaves. Furthermore, they were subjected to severe suffering, slavery or other inhumane treatment. In violation of international law they were deprived of liberty in the woman’s home and prevented from leaving. “Genocide, crimes against humanity and serious war crimes can be committed by means of acts that overlap each other. However, they have different protection interests and it is therefore important that the court tries all the criminal classifications that can be relevant for the acts that I believe to have been committed in the residence,” says Reena Devgun. The woman is suspected of, on different occasions, being complicit in selling or handing over women and children to other persons within IS, knowing that they could be killed or subjected to severe suffering or serious sexual assault. “My opinion is that all the victims were subjected to such severe mental harm that it constitutes genocide. Forcefully taking the Yazidi children from their group and, as in this case, bringing them up to be Muslims, is also an act of genocide,” says Reena Devgun. The woman denies all allegations. She is currently serving a sentence for gross violations of international law and serious war crimes. What are genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes? Stockholm District Court Case Number: B3210-23. Contact Senior Prosecutor Reena Devgun is available today 19 September at approximately 3-3.30 PM for interviews on +46 10-562 50 15. The next time she is available to the media is after the judgment has been delivered. Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20

The prosecutor has decided to prosecute two men aged 38 and 49 with agitation against an ethnic or national group. The prosecution relates to four incidents in which the Qur’an was burned in various locations in Stockholm during the summer of 2023. The prosecutor is available to the media.

Both men are prosecuted for four offences of agitation against an ethnic or national group as a result of incidents outside the mosque in Södermalm on 28 July and 24 August 2023, and at Rinkebyplan and Benny Fredrikssons Torg on 25 and 26 August that same year. According to the indictment, evidence largely consists of video recordings of the events in question. “Both men are prosecuted for having on these four occasions made statements and treated the Qur’an in a manner intended to express contempt for Muslims because of their faith. In my opinion, the men’s statements and actions fall under the provisions on agitation against an ethnic or national group and it is important that this matter is tried in court,” says Senior Prosecutor Anna Hankkio, who is leading the investigation. The 49-year-old man is also prosecuted for benefit fraud. Stockholm District Court Case Number: B 10686-23. Contact Senior Prosecutor Anna Hankkio is available to the media by telephone today, 28 August between 11 am and 12 noon on +46 (0)10 562 73 53. Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20

The investigation where an 26-year-old man has been suspected of having subjected a woman to illegal threats has been closed. The incident occurred on May 9 in connection with the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö. The prosecutor is available to the media this afternoon.

The investigation has come to the conclusion that the man made a movement that hit the woman's film camera. The course of events was fast and was perceived differently by the witnesses of the incident. "Today I have closed the investigation because I cannot prove that the act was capable of causing serious fear or that the man had any such intention", says senior prosecutor Fredrik Jönsson. Case number in Malmö District Court: B 5921-24. Contact Senior prosecutor Fredrik Jönsson is available for the media by phone today Monday at 14– 15, +46 10 562 60 75. Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20

The conclusion of the investigation is that Swedish jurisdiction does not apply and that the investigation therefore should be closed.

On September 26, 2022, several attacks were carried out in international waters, directed at the Nord Stream. Public Prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist has led the investigation, which has concerned gross sabotage. The primary purpose of the investigation has been to establish whether Swedish citizens were involved in the act and whether Swedish territory was used to carry out the act, and thereby risked damaging Swedish interests or Sweden's security. The investigation has now reached such a stage that the authorities have a clear view of the incident and that nothing has emerged to indicate that Sweden or Swedish citizens were involved in the attack which took place in international waters. “The investigation has been systematic and thorough. Among other things, a large number of ship movements have been analysed in order to understand what has happened. In addition to that, an extensive crime scene investigation has been carried out and several interviews have been held in the matter. Against the background of the situation we now have, we can state that Swedish jurisdiction does not apply”, says Mats Ljungqvist Cooperation with Swedish authorities The investigation team has had very good cooperation with several Swedish authorities. “I would particularly like to highlight the quick and efficient effort that the Swedish Navy and the Swedish Coast Guard carried out in order to secure the crime scene. Without their efforts, the authorities would not have been able to reach the state of investigation that we have now reached”, says Mats Ljungqvist. Good international cooperation Furthermore, there has been efficient cooperation with several countries. “We have had good cooperation with several countries, above all Denmark and Germany, where we have continuously shared information and status reports. We have had in-depth cooperation with the investigation conducted by the German authorities. Within the framework of this legal cooperation, we have been able to hand over material that can be used as evidence in the German investigation”, says Mats Ljungqvist “The German investigation continues and due to the secrecy that prevails in international legal cooperation, I cannot comment further on the cooperation that has taken place. With reference to this, I will also not be able to comment anything further on the conclusions of the Swedish investigation or comment on any suspected persons in the Swedish investigation”, says Mats Ljungqvist. Summary In summary, the Swedish investigation has been able to establish and confirm circumstances that, taken together, lead to the conclusion that there is no longer any reason to continue the Swedish preliminary investigation because it can be assumed that Swedish courts lacks jurisdiction. The prosecutor will not, due to the secrecy that still prevails, further comment on the case. The decision (in Swedish). Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20