Sweden prosecutes woman for making it possible for Son to fight for IS
For the first time, charges are being brought in Sweden for war crimes for having used a child soldier
Sweden prosecuted a woman for allowing her son to fight for the Islamic State group as a child soldier in Syria, prosecutors said on Tuesday, in the first case of its kind.
The Swedish woman is said to have traveled to Syria in 2013, the Swedish prosecutor’s office states, a year before the jihadist group declared a “caliphate” in large parts of the country and neighboring Iraq.
The 49-year-old is accused of having let his son fight for armed groups, including IS, from 12 to 15 years of age.
During that time, he is said to have participated “in hostilities carried out by armed groups, including the terrorist organization IS”.
The boy died since 2017, it added, without developing the cause of his death.
“This is the first time charges have been brought in Sweden for war crimes to use a child soldier,” says the prosecutor’s office.
The woman, who returned to Sweden in 2020 after the military defeat of IS protostat, denied all allegations.
But prosecutor Reena Devgun said an investigation appeared to indicate otherwise.
It showed that “the son, while living at home, was being trained and trained to take part in the fighting, and that he had been equipped with military equipment in addition to military weapons and that he was being used in combat,” she said. in a statement.
Public broadcaster SVT said the woman left Sweden for Syria in 2013 with her five children.
A shadow of its former self, IS is still active in Iraq and Syria in much reduced capacity.
During the group’s heyday, a small number of individuals traveled from all over Europe and a wider field to join it.