Facts
Raed Abdulkareem is an Iraqi national and was a member of the Iraqi armed forces. In spring 2015, while fighting the Islamic State (IS) militants, Raed Abdulkareem posed for pictures with the dead bodies of enemy fighters. The photos, which he posted on Facebook in July 2015, show him standing in military uniform among several decapitated bodies and a severed head on a plate.
Procedure
In September 2016, Raed Abdulkareem was charged in Sweden for the war crime of posing with the dead bodies of IS fighters. The incriminating photos were discovered during a separate investigation into a robbery, for which Abdulkareem was sentenced to 42-month in prison.
The 24-year old Abdulkareem admitted being on the photos but denied any wrongdoing, claiming he had been forced to pose for them.
On 6 December 2016, Raed Abdulkareem was found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to 6 months’ imprisonment by the Blekinge District Court (Sweden) for posing next to the severed heads.
The judgment has been appealed both by the prosecutors and the defendant.
On 11 April 2017, the verdict was confirmed on appeal but the sentence was increased to nine months’ imprisonment.