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Sweden Charges Woman with Genocide, Crimes against Humanity in Syria

A Swedish flag hangs outside a store on a busy street as visitors walk past in the background in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 2023 REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A Swedish flag hangs outside a store on a busy street as visitors walk past in the background in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 2023 REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Sweden Charges Woman with Genocide, Crimes against Humanity in Syria

A Swedish flag hangs outside a store on a busy street as visitors walk past in the background in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 2023 REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A Swedish flag hangs outside a store on a busy street as visitors walk past in the background in the old town of Stockholm, Sweden, July 14, 2023 REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Swedish prosecutors charged a woman on Thursday with crimes against humanity for acts in Syria against women and children of the Yazidi religious minority in 2014-2016, the first time the Nordic country has brought this charge.

The woman, a 52-year old Swedish citizen identified in the court indictment as Lina Ishaq, also faces charges of genocide and war crimes - or as an accessory to them - between 2014 and 2016, they said.

Prosecutors said she had travelled to Syria to help establish the rule there of ISIS, the terrorist group that seized large swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014 before eventually being defeated.

Prosecutor Reena Devgun said in a statement the woman was suspected of "buying or receiving civilian women and children belonging to the Yazidi minority in her residence in Raqqa in Syria", and treating them as slaves.

"Furthermore, they were subjected to severe suffering, slavery or other inhumane treatment. In violation of international law they were deprived of liberty in the woman's home and prevented from leaving," Devgun said.

The accused, who in 2020 returned to Sweden where she is currently serving time in prison for other offences in Syria, denies the new charges, her lawyer Mikael Westerlund said.

Under Swedish law, courts can try people for crimes against international law committed abroad.

The prosecution agency said crimes against humanity can include murder, rape, torture and forced labour if they are part of a widespread or systematic attack against a group of civilians.

In 2022, a Swedish court found the same woman guilty of war crimes and violation of international law for failing to prevent her 12-year-old son from becoming a child soldier in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa when it was under ISIS rule.

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Russian Missile Attack Forces Ukraine to Shut Down Power Grid

A serviceman of 13th Operative Purpose Brigade "Khartiia" of the National Guard of Ukraine fires a Giatsint-B howitzer towards Russian troops at a position on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A serviceman of 13th Operative Purpose Brigade "Khartiia" of the National Guard of Ukraine fires a Giatsint-B howitzer towards Russian troops at a position on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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Russian Missile Attack Forces Ukraine to Shut Down Power Grid

A serviceman of 13th Operative Purpose Brigade "Khartiia" of the National Guard of Ukraine fires a Giatsint-B howitzer towards Russian troops at a position on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
A serviceman of 13th Operative Purpose Brigade "Khartiia" of the National Guard of Ukraine fires a Giatsint-B howitzer towards Russian troops at a position on a front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

Russia on Wednesday launched a major ballistic and cruise missile attack on regions across Ukraine, targeting energy production and compelling authorities to shut down the power grid in some areas despite freezing winter weather, officials said.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that it launched a strike on “critically important facilities of gas and energy infrastructure that ensure the functioning of Ukraine’s military industrial complex.” It didn't give the target locations or other details.

The barrage came a day after the Russian Defense Ministry vowed a response to what it said was an attack on Russian soil using multiple Western-supplied missiles.

Kyiv hasn't confirmed that attack, though it said Tuesday that it hit an oil refinery and a fuel storage depot, a chemical plant producing ammunition and two anti-aircraft missile systems, in a missile and drone attack that reached around 1,100 kilometers (almost 700 miles) into Russia.

Long-range attacks have been a feature of the nearly three-year war, where on the front line snaking about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from northeast to southern Ukraine, the armies have been engaged in a war of attrition. Russia has been advancing on the battlefield over the past year, though its progress has been slow and costly.

Russia attacked Ukraine with 43 missiles and 74 drones overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force said. A total of 30 missiles and 47 drones were shot down, and 27 drones failed to reach their target, it said.

The Russian missiles sought out targets from the Lviv region in western Ukraine near Poland to Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine bordering Russia. The state energy company Ukrenergo reported emergency power outages in six regions. It often shuts down production during attacks as a precaution.

“The enemy continues to terrorize Ukrainians,” Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko wrote on Facebook.

Electricity supplies resumed to households in some areas by the middle of the day, but Ukrenergo urged customers to avoid using power-hungry electrical appliances.

Russia has repeatedly tried to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, denying the country heat, electricity and running water in an effort to break the Ukrainian spirit. The attacks have also sought to disrupt Ukraine’s defense manufacturing industry.

Last September, the UN refugee agency reported that Ukraine had lost more than an estimated 60% of its energy generation capacity.

Ukrainian authorities try to rebuild their power generation after the attack, though the barrages have eroded production. Western partners have been helping Ukraine rebuild.

“It is the middle of the winter, and Russia’s goal remains unchanged: our energy infrastructure,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

He urged Western partners to accelerate the delivery to Ukraine of promised air defense weapons, emphasizing that “promises have been made but not yet fully realized.”