Syrian Asylum Seeker Acquitted of ISIS War Crimes Handed €71,000 in Compensation
Thomas Brooke, Remix, April 17, 2025
A Syrian asylum seeker residing in Ronneby, Sweden, who was detained for over a year on suspicion of involvement with ISIS-related war crimes in Syria, has now received substantial financial compensation from the Swedish state following his acquittal by Blekinge District Court.
The man, in his 50s, faced serious accusations of participating in two executions in the village of al-Sawana, near Palmyra, Syria, in 2015.
As reported by Aftonbladet, witnesses implicated him in the execution of two unarmed individuals carried out under the ISIS flag, as well as the desecration of a corpse, which was dragged behind a vehicle and publicly displayed.
Despite numerous witness testimonies linking him to ISIS and the crimes in question, the district court ruled that the evidence, much of which relied on oral testimony, was insufficient to establish his guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Consequently, he was acquitted in May last year.
Following his acquittal, he has now been awarded approximately SEK 787,000 (around €71,200) from Swedish taxpayer funds, SVT reported on Wednesday.
This compensation includes SEK 465,000 for personal suffering experienced during detention and SEK 322,000 for disruptions caused to his business operations and loss of earnings, as he was managing a company at the time of his arrest.
The man arrived in Sweden and claimed asylum in 2015, shortly after the atrocities.
