Sweden’s courts prosecute a woman for helping to recruit a 12-year-old son to fight in Syria
A Swedish woman has been charged with war crimes for helping to recruit her 12-year-old son, who died in 2017, to fight in Syria.
The son, born in 2001, fought for groups that included the Islamic State [stock image, source: Getty]
A Swedish woman has been charged with war crimes for helping to recruit her 12-year-old son to fight as a child soldier in Syria, where he was killed in the civil war, prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The 49-year-old woman, a Swedish citizen who returned from Syria in 2020, is the first person known to have been prosecuted in Sweden for having helped with the recruitment of her own minor son as a child soldier.
The boy, born in 2001, fought in early 2013 for groups that included the Islamic State. He died in 2017. Authorities did not release any further identifying details about the mother or her children.
The woman denies the accusations, says her lawyer Mikael Westerlund. If convicted, she risks a minimum prison sentence of four years, prosecutor Reena Devgun said.
According to the UN, the recruitment and use of children under the age of 15 as soldiers is prohibited under international humanitarian law and is recognized as a war crime by the International Criminal Court.
According to Swedish law, courts can convict people for violations of international law committed abroad. The trial is set to begin on Monday, January 10.