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A6 WORLD NEWS
Friday 20 September 2024
Sweden charges a woman with war crimes for allegedly torturing

Yazidi women and children in Syria

By JAN M. OLSEN Associ- suspected of holding nine
ated Press COPENHAGEN, people, including children,
Denmark (AP) — Swed- in her Raqqa home for up
ish authorities on Thursday to seven months and treat-
charged a 52-year-old ing them as slaves. She also
woman associated with abused several of those
the Islamic State group with she held captive.
genocide, crimes against The charge sheet said that
humanity and serious war Ishaq, who denies wrong-
crimes against Yazidi wom- doing, is accused of hav-
en and children in Syria the ing molested a baby, said
first such case on trial in the to have been 1 month
Scandinavian country. old at the time, by hold-
Lina Laina Ishaq, who’s a ing a hand over the child’s
Swedish citizen, allegedly mouth when he screamed
committed the crimes from to silence him. She is also
August 2014 to December suspected of having sold
2016, in the city of Raqqa, people to IS knowing they
the former de facto capital risked being killed or sub-
of the militant group’s self- jected to serious sexual
proclaimed caliphate and abuse. “In short, her expla-
home to about 300,000 nation is that she has never
people. bought another person,
The crimes “took place un- Prosecutor Reena Devgun speaks during a press conference regarding the indictment of a that she has never owned
der IS rule in Raqqa, and 52-year-old woman, associated with the Islamic State group, with genocide, crimes against or exercised any control
this is the first time that IS humanity and serious war crimes against Yazidi women and children in Syria, in Stockholm, over another person, and
attacks against the Yazidi Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. that she has never sold an-
minority have been tried in Associated Press other person,” Ishaq’s law-
Sweden,” senior prosecu- yer Mikael Westerlund told
tor Reena Devgun said in ecutions,” Devgun said. “IS Iraq, known as UNITAD. In severe suffering, torture or Swedish news agency TT.
a statement. The Yazidis tried to annihilate the Yazidi a separate statement, the other inhumane treatment” In 2014, IS militants stormed
are one of Iraq’s oldest re- ethnic group on an indus- Stockholm District Court and also deprived “them of Yazidi towns and villages in
ligious minorities. “Women, trial scale.” In announcing said the prosecution claims fundamental rights for cul- Iraq’s Sinjar region and ab-
children and men were the charges, Devgun told a she detained a number of tural, religious and gender ducted women and chil-
regarded as property and news conference that the women and children of the reasons contrary to general dren. Women were forced
subjected to being traded prosecutors were able to Yazidi ethnic group in her international law.” into sexual slavery, and
as slaves, sexual slavery, identify Ishaq through infor- residence in Raqqa, and According to the charge boys were taken to be in-
forced labor, deprivation of mation from the U.N. team “allegedly exposed them sheet, obtained by The doctrinated in jihadi ideol-
liberty and extrajudicial ex- investigating atrocities in to, among other things, Associated Press, Ishaq is ogy. q

Lawyer for American charged in Japan’s trial of ex-Nissan exec

Ghosn appeals for ‘justice’

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Nissan’s former boss Carlos Kelly, a former Nissan ex- sonable,” saying it didn’t Lebanon while out on bail
Business Writer Ghosn, turned a page in a ecutive vice president, make sense for Kelly to be in 2019. He says he is inno-
TOKYO (AP) — The six-year- Japanese court Thursday, was arrested in 2018, on part of a conspiracy for just cent. Ghosn is unlikely to
old criminal case of Greg with his lawyer demanding charges related to under- the last year. “I close my be ever tried as Japan has
Kelly, an American en- “justice” with a verdict of reporting the compensa- arguments by demanding no extradition agreement
snared in the scandal of total innocence. tion of Ghosn, who led the court carefully consider with Lebanon. Top Japa-
Nissan Motor Corp. for two the evidence presented, nese executives tend to
decades. In 2022, Kelly was come to judgment based get far smaller salaries than
cleared of almost all counts on law and evidence to their Western counterparts.
and given a suspended hand down the verdict of When Japan began requir-
sentence, which meant he totally not guilty, restoring ing top executives to dis-
didn’t serve time. He was Kelly’s reputation and re- close their compensation in
found guilty for just one of alizing justice,” Kitamura 2010, Ghosn’s annual pay
the eight years for which said, using the English word was cut by about half, or 1
the compensation alleg- “justice.” Presiding Judge billion yen ($10 million).
edly was under-reported. Kazunori Karei promised a Testimony and documents
“The news traveled around verdict on Feb. 4. Kelly as- presented during the trial
the world, and Kelly’s repu- serted his innocence from showed Kelly tried to com-
tation was tarnished literally the start, as has Ghosn. pensate Ghosn through
on a global level,” defense Kelly returned to his home possible post-retirement
lawyer Yoichi Kitamura told in Tennessee during the ap- consultancy fees and pay-
the Tokyo High Court. peal and was not present ing him not to leave for a
Former Nissan Motor Co. executive Greg Kelly speaks during an In his final arguments, Kita- in the courtroom. rival company, known as
interview with The Associated Press in Tokyo, on Aug. 18, 2021. mura denounced the low- Ghosn was also arrested a “non-compete” agree-
Associated Press er court verdict as “unrea- and charged but fled to ment. q