A Swedish court on Friday sentenced a man to three years in jail for joining the Islamic State (IS) group, the country's first conviction since new legislation was introduced banning participation in a terrorist group.
The 22-year-old man was convicted of "participation in a terrorist organisation," as well financing terrorism and three counts of foreign travel for terrorism purposes, the court said in a statement.
According to the court all charges concerned IS and the three trips were all to Somalia.
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His sentence was set to three years and three months in prison.
The case is the first conviction for the crime of "participation in a terrorist organisation", under a law that was adopted by parliament in 2023.
Sweden had been adopting tougher anti-terror laws since 2017, after an Uzbek asylum seeker -- who had sworn allegiance to IS -- drove a truck down a busy shopping street in Stockholm, killing five people.
But the legislation on participation in a terrorist group required the country to first amend its constitution as it was deemed to infringe on Sweden's freedom of association laws.
{{/usCountry}}But the legislation on participation in a terrorist group required the country to first amend its constitution as it was deemed to infringe on Sweden's freedom of association laws.
{{/usCountry}}The adoption of the bill also came as Turkey was holding up Sweden's bid to join NATO -- with Ankara demanding that Sweden crack down on extremist groups.
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After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden ended two centuries of military non-alignment and applied to join the alliance in May 2022 -- eventually joining in March 2024.