The 50-year-old Swedish woman is accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, and grave war crimes, allegedly having held Yazidis in slave-like conditions in her home in al-Raqqa, Syria, which was then controlled by the extremist group IS.
However, she denies the crimes and disputes responsibility, according to her defense.
Her explanation is, in brief, that she has never bought another human being, that she has never owned or exercised control over another human being that would imply criminal liability, and that she has never sold another human being, says attorney Mikael Westerlund to TT.
In the woman's proximity
On the other hand, the woman admits to having come into contact with people from the Yazidi minority group during her time in Syria.
It is undisputed that there were people from the Yazidi minority in her immediate proximity for a shorter period, but they were not people she had bought, controlled, or sold. It was other people who committed the crimes, says Westerlund.
There have been many interrogations, they have been quite long and detailed, but I perceive that the investigators have focused on what she is supposed to have done and not, they have not asked many questions about alternative perpetrators.
"Not as robust"
Westerlund believes that a large part of the prosecution's investigation aims to prove whether genocide or crimes against humanity have occurred.
These are questions the defense will not argue much about, but the prosecutor will have to present evidence, and then we'll see if the court finds it proven.
We will focus on the claim of what the woman has done. There, the investigation is not as robust, we can establish that there are only a few interrogations. It depends on how one evaluates the oral statements that will determine whether she is convicted or acquitted.
The investigation has been lengthy, so from that perspective, the woman thinks it's nice that the charges are being brought, according to Westerlund.
She is distressed. She distances herself from the IS murder sect and does not want to be linked to their atrocities. She feels that it is an unfair description that is given of her in the investigation and looks forward to nuancing the information.
The woman was sentenced to six years in prison in 2022 for taking her 12-year-old son to Syria and letting him become a child soldier in IS.
