- Sweden has now signed an agreement on in-depth cooperation with the UN agency UNITAD, which works to collect evidence and testimonies about Islamic State crime.
- In turn, Sweden contributes legal aid from Swedish law enforcement agencies and information to UNITAD.
- The agreement is welcomed by both the Police Authority and the Public Prosecutor’s Office
– It is a way for us to show that if you have committed a crime, if you have traveled down and participated in the worst terrorist sect we have had in our time, then you are not safe. Then the evidence that exists in Iraq and that UNITAD has accumulated is also an opportunity to use in Sweden, says Minister of the Interior Mikael Damberg (S).
UNITAD is a UN body that collects evidence and testimonies in Iraq that can be used to prosecute IS members who have committed crimes during their time in the terrorist organization.
Sweden now gets through in-depth collaboration, more and faster access to evidence that UNITAD has collected in recent years. In turn, Sweden contributes legal aid from Swedish law enforcement agencies and information to UNITAD.
Regarding crimes committed in Syria, Mikael Damberg says that it is more complicated.
– It is a bit more complicated, but there is also a UN mechanism in the form of IIIM with which Sweden has a collaboration. And then we have the regional Kurdish autonomy with which Sweden has good cooperation.
In Sweden it is going on currently about forty preliminary investigations into war crimes involving people who went down to the Islamic State. Six people have already been notified of suspicion of war crimes, most recently yesterday the Public Prosecutor’s Office notified a person in western Sweden of suspicion of war crimes.
This agreement that Sweden now enters into with UNITAD is welcomed by both the Police Authority and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
– They have the opportunity to collect evidence, interrogate people, have access to the crime scenes, says chamber prosecutor Reena Devgun who coordinates the war crime prosecutors.
– The good thing about this type of body is that they have the task of helping national authorities. And countries like Sweden that have permanent investigation units that work with this type of issue then have the opportunity to turn to them directly. It is extremely valuable and it is new, so we have not been able to work before, she says.
Source: ICELAND NEWS