Sweden protests to Iraq over death sentence given to Swedish citizen

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden said on Thursday it had called in Iraq's charge d'affaires in Stockholm to protest against a death sentence handed down to a Swedish citizen in Iraq.

The foreign ministry said Iraqi authorities had confirmed that one Swedish citizen had been sentenced to death and that it had also received information that one or two other Swedish citizens had been handed the same sentence.

"Iraq's chargé d'affaires was urgently summoned to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs today," Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said in a statement.

"At the meeting, Sweden's protests against death sentences issued to Swedes in Iraq, and demands that the sentences not be enforced, were conveyed."

Billstrom said Sweden opposes the death penalty "always, everywhere and regardless of the circumstances".

The foreign ministry did not give any further information.

Daily Aftonbladet reported that the men had been accused of being involved in the shooting of another Swedish citizen in Iraq in January.

(Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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