Sweden says 3 citizens given death sentences in Iraq over shooting

Three Swedish citizens have been sentenced to death in Iraq over their involvement in a shooting and a fourth may face the same punishment over a separate crime, the foreign ministry in Stockholm said today, Reuters has reported.

The Swedish government summoned Iraq’s Charge d’Affaires last month to protest against the death sentence against one of the three involved in the shooting. Sweden does not have the death penalty and opposes its use in all circumstances.

The foreign ministry said it had now received confirmation that two more Swedes have been convicted in relation to the same crime, and received the death penalty. “The information we have received on the death penalties is extremely serious and we are working to ensure the sentences will not be carried out,” said the ministry.

In June, the Daily Aftonbladet reported that the men had been involved in the shooting of another Swedish citizen in Iraq in January. The ministry said that it had received a report that a fourth Swede was given a death sentence for a different, drug-related crime, but that it could not confirm the information.

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