Finland Sentences Iraqi Man in Rare War Crime Case

[rug]

By The Associated Press
HELSINKI — Mar 18, 2016, 12:24 PM ET

A Finnish court has given an Iraqi man a 16-month suspended sentence in a rare war crime case where the defendant was found guilty of degrading a deceased enemy soldier.

The Pirkanmaa District Court in Tampere said Friday the 29-year-old former member of an Iraqi paramilitary unit had posted pictures of himself and a decapitated head of an alleged Islamic State militant on his open Facebook page.

During the one-day trial, the court called the defendant's actions degrading and humiliating, adding the victim was easily recognizable.

The man had arrived to Finland in 2015 — possibly to seek asylum — and was detained in November pending investigation.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/finland-sentences-iraqi-man-rare-war-crime-case-37752306