“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 following the announcement of the charges.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority last week announced they planned to charge a man with the “execution” of Lt Kasasbeh, along with other suspected members of the Islamic State (IS) group.
Jordan confirmed the death of Lt Kasasbeh in 2015, following the circulation of a gruesome video published online by IS that appeared to show the 26-year-old being burned alive in a cage.
He was captured when his plane came down near the city of Raqqa during a mission against IS in December 2014.
At the time of Lt Kasasbeh’s death, Jordan – which was part of a US-led coalition fighting IS in Syria during the civil war – had been attempting to secure his release as part of a prisoner swap.
Swedish prosecutors said in its statement last week the offences Krayem has now been charged with took place between 24 December 2014 and 3 February 2015.
They added an investigation had shown Krayem “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, and the pilot died as a consequence of the fire.”
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 to 30 years in prison 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.
He has been temporarily transferred from France to Sweden in order to participate in this latest trial.BBC
