STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -A Swedish court on Monday found four men guilty of belonging to Islamic State, carrying out activities such as recruitment and weapons training for the organisation, and sentenced them to between three and six-and-half years in prison.
The Nacka District Court said in a statement that varying acts by the men, all of whom are Swedish citizens, between 2023 and 2024 showed they were part of the Islamic militant group IS in Somalia.
“The activities have included recruitment for the organisation, disseminating of propaganda, weapons training and counselling,” it said.
Three of the four men had also been charged with preparation of a terrorist crime in Sweden in the name of IS in 2023 and 2024, but were acquitted of the charge, the court said.
“The district court did not consider that there was a sufficiently clear plan for an intended terrorist offence,” it said.
Prosecutors said in December in the indictment that the three had intended to kill or injure others, but did not disclose a specific target for the intended attack.
The defence lawyer for Omar Yasser Ahmed Atia, 21, who was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison, said his client would appeal the verdict.
The defence lawyer for Rasmus Erik Johansson, 23, who was sentenced to five and a half years in prison, declined to comment.
The defence lawyers for Elyas Mohamed Hakamali, 63, who was sentenced to three years in prison and Daniel Elias Johansson, 25, who was sentenced to six years, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Isabelle Yr Carlsson and Louise Rasmussen in Copenhagen, Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm, editing by Stine Jacobsen and Sharon Singleton)
