Sweden sentences ousted regime militia member to life imprisonment over Syria war crime

Stockholm, May 4 (SANA) A Swedish court on Monday sentenced a 55-year-old man to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of serious war crimes committed in Syria during the early years of the revolution .

The court ruled that Mahmoud Swaidan participated in grave violations of international law while serving with an ousted regime militia in the Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus.

According to Swedish newspaper Expressen, the defendant joined the militia in spring 2012 and took part in an attack on a peaceful demonstration on 13 July 2012, opening fire on civilians with an automatic weapon. The court said the attack claimed the lives of 10 people and left others injured.

Swaidan was also convicted of involvement in what was described as the “death checkpoint” near al-Bashir Mosque at the northern entrance of Yarmouk camp. Between December 2012 and July 2013, civilians were detained at the site, handed over to security services of the former regime, and subjected to torture and ill-treatment, with some later killed.

The court found that Swaidan participated in identifying civilians, searching them, detaining them, and transferring them to security agencies.

Witnesses described him during the trial as “extremely violent” and said he did not hesitate to harm detainees, often concealing his face while stationed at the checkpoint.

He was arrested in July 2024 in the city of Umeå in western Sweden and held in pre-trial detention in Stockholm for 21 months. His trial began in October 2025 and concluded on March 23rd , before the court issued its final ruling on Monday.

In addition to the life sentence, the court ordered him to pay compensation to victims and their families, including those killed or detained at the checkpoint.

The case is part of a broader wave of European prosecutions targeting individuals linked to war crimes in Syria, with similar trials held in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria and the United Kingdom.

KA.MZ