A video released by the New York Times in September 2013 showed a jihadist named Haisam Omar Sakhanh executing Syrian government soldiers. After heading to Sweden to seek asylum in 2013, he was arrested last year in the central part of Sweden for his suspected involvement in the crime. He had joined an Islamist group called Firqat Suleiman el-Muqatila back in Syria.

Although he admitted to being in the video, he claimed that the death sentences came from a legimitate court ruling in Syria. The Swedish court rejected his justification and ruled the crime violated international law.

The Swedish Judge Tomas Zander of the Stockholm District Court said that the victims were shot dead "under particularly cruel circumstance" and had been badly beaten. This crime "is so high that the punishment has been ruled to be life imprisonment" said the Court.

The life sentence given to Sakhanh is only 10 years, which is the standard length of life imprisonment in Sweden. After finishing his sentence, he will be deported and not be allowed to return to the country.

This ruling comes as the Swedish police are currently investigating 45 cases of foreign war crimes.

Author: Wesley Dockery (with AP, dpa)