Accused of pushing her young son into the ranks of the Islamic State group, in order to turn him into a child soldier in Syria, a woman will stand trial in Sweden for committing a war crime and violating international law, prosecutors announced today.
After she left for Syria in 2013, this 49-year-old woman, whose nationality is not specified, is accused of allowing the recruitment, then using her son, then aged 12, as a child soldier. These are the first prosecutions in the country for a war crime linked to the use of a child soldier, according to prosecutors.
"There are suspicions against her that she arranged for her son to be recruited and used continuously in Syria between August 1, 2013 and May 27, 2016, the date on which he turned 15, to directly participate in hostilities committed by armed organizations, including the Islamic State terrorist group," the prosecution said in a press release. The boy died in 2017 under circumstances that have not been clarified.
According to the investigation, "during the time he lived at home, the son was trained to participate in hostilities, was given military equipment and military weapons, and was used in combat and in propaganda operations and other wartime missions," prosecutor Reena Devgun said.
The woman, who returned to Sweden in 2020, denies the charges, according to the Swedish press. When she left for Syria, the accused took her five children with her, Swedish state television network SVT reported.
Source: protothema.gr
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