Swedish Osama Krayem is charged with participating when the Jordanian fighter pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh was burned to death by IS ten years ago.
The Swedish trial is closely followed by al-Kasasbeh's relatives in Jordan, says the prosecutor's assistant Mikael Westerlund during a break in the trial.
I have been down and visited them and gone through the charges with them. They are extremely grateful to Sweden's police, he says.
They had lost hope that this would ever lead to a trial. When I finally managed to establish contact with them, they were surprised, but also very happy that their son and brother may finally get justice.
”Would like to get answers”
At the same time, several questions remain that the family hopes to get answers to.
They have, for example, not been able to bury their son and their brother, and they would like to get answers to questions about where the remains are and so on, says Mikael Westerlund.
The accused Osama Krayem denies the crimes. Much more than that, his lawyer Petra Eklund does not want to say before the defense has had its say later in the trial.
He was at this place at this event. But he has not done what the prosecutors claim, that he has done together and in agreement with others, says Eklund.
”Nice that it's underway”
What is his attitude to the information that he belonged to the IS unit Liwa al-Sadiq, which is said to have carried out the execution?
That will emerge during the upcoming presentation of evidence.
How does your client experience the trial?
He is here for us to conduct this main trial that he has waited for. So he probably thinks it's nice that it's underway.
