Thousands of civilians were injured or killed when the Assad regime's army launched a violent attack on the cities of Homs and Hama at the start of the Syrian civil war.
A Syrian brigadier general who fled to Sweden has now been acquitted in a unique war crimes trial.
We have done our utmost to bring forward the evidence that has been available to us, says the prosecutor.
The 65-year-old man, resident in Värmland, was charged with aiding and abetting gross war crimes in Homs and Hama in 2012.
He contributed, according to the indictment, to the "indiscriminate warfare" in the Syrian cities.
The Stockholm District Court finds that it is established that the man served as a brigadier general and that the Syrian army committed war crimes. However, the evidence is deemed insufficient regarding the man's participation in the specific attacks covered by the indictment.
It is difficult with the evidence regarding crimes committed in an armed conflict in another country, where a war is still ongoing, says prosecutor Karolina Wieslander to TT.
Difficult with witnesses
A major problem has been to obtain witness statements from key individuals with insight into the regime and the military, she says.
Al-Assad is still in power. So, there are great reservations for people to speak out in a way that accuses the regime of committing crimes against its own population.
Karolina Wieslander describes the district court's judgment as well-written.
We thought we had sufficient evidence for it to be tried by the district court. They made the assessment that it was not enough, and then we will see if we can accept that assessment.
The plaintiff's counsel announces that he will go through the verdict with the eight plaintiffs, who are scattered in different countries.
"Only then can I give any statement on whether the verdict will be appealed", he writes to TT.
First of its kind
The trial in Stockholm is the first in Europe to try the Syrian army's war crimes, according to Civil Rights Defenders, and has received significant international attention.
Even if the indictment is dismissed, the prosecutors are satisfied that the district court establishes that war crimes were committed.
It feels important, given the suffering that the Syrian population has endured, says Karolina Wieslander.
The evidence in the case has consisted of the man's own statements, as well as witness statements, reports, and documents from the Syrian government. The man has consistently denied any wrongdoing.
There are eight plaintiffs in the case. These include, among others, a man whose brother was killed in the attacks on Homs, as well as a British and a French journalist who were injured in an attack on a media centre.
What started as peaceful protests during the Arab Spring in 2011 escalated into full-scale civil war in Syria the following year.
In the country's third-largest city, Homs, an early rebel stronghold was established against which President Bashar al-Assad's army launched an offensive in early 2012. The city was besieged, followed by a comprehensive bombing campaign targeting the Baba Amr district.
Thousands of civilians were injured and killed, and entire neighbourhoods were levelled to the ground.
The attacks, which also targeted the nearby city of Hama, made no distinction between civilian and military targets and are therefore considered war crimes.
The 65-year-old man served at the time as a brigadier general and head of an armaments department in an army division.
The man defected in the summer of 2012 and fled to Turkey. Three years later, he sought asylum in Sweden and was then investigated for crimes after his military service was revealed in an interview with the Migration Agency.
