Two former executives at a Swedish oil firm face accusations of complicity in war crimes in present-day
The former CEO of Swedish oil company Lundin Oil, now known as
The two men, Swede
The Swedish government had to grant consent for a foreign national to be indicted for crimes committed in another country. However, the Swedish court system can generally prosecute such crimes.
The trial follows a 13-year investigation culminating in findings over 80,000 pages. Closing arguments are expected to be delivered in
What are the defendants accused of?
The alleged crimes occurred between 1999 and 2003, with the two men accused of asking the Sudanese government to put its military in charge of security at one of Lundin Oil's exploration fields in 1999 in
Prosecutors say this later led to "aerial bombardments from transport planes, shooting civilians from helicopter gunships, abducting and plundering civilians and burning entire villages and their crops."
They argue that the two former executives were complicit because they knew
"What constitutes complicity in a criminal sense is that they made these demands despite understanding or, in any case, being indifferent to the military and the militia carrying out the war in a way forbidden according to international humanitarian law," chief public prosecutor
War-torn region
The alleged crimes occurred after Lundin Oil struck oil in 1999 in the "Block 5A" field.
Former President
Prosecutors have asked to confiscate 2.4 billion kronor (E202 million,
tj/dj (AFP, Reuters)
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