A convicted terrorist has been jailed for life over the brutal killing of a pilot who was burned alive in a cage 10 years ago.
A court in Stockholm handed down the verdict to Osama Krayem, a Swedish national, who is already in jail over terror attacks in Paris and Brussels 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. His death was later confirmed by Jordan following the circulation of an IS video that showed his grim death.
Krayem 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 which 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 and Brussels attacks, was given a life sentence for “serious war crimes and terrorist crimes”.
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 terror 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.
