Swedish trial: Ex-oil executives accused in Sudan war crimes

Shafaq News / The former CEO and the former chairman of a Swedish oil firm went on trial in Sweden on Tuesday, accused of complicity in war crimes in Sudan between 1999 and 2003 - charges that they both flatly deny.

Prosecutors say that the former Lundin Oil - which has changed its name several times and in 2022 sold most of its business - asked Khartoum to secure a potential oilfield in what is now South Sudan, knowing that this would mean seizing the area by force.

This made the executives complicit in war crimes that were then carried out by the Sudanese army and allied militia against civilians, according to the 2021 indictment.

The company's former chairman Ian Lundin, who is on trial alongside former CEO Alex Schneiter, said on Tuesday the accusations made against the pair were false, Swedish news agency TT reported.

"We look forward to defending ourselves in court," he told reporters at the Stockholm district court, according to TT.

The case is expected to run until early 2026, according to the court's schedule.

"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 that was forbidden according to international humanitarian law," the prosecution agency said in 2021.

The company has rejected the allegations, as did Schneiter.

(Reuters)