Sweden shortens sentence for terrorist

swedish coat of armsOn Wednesday, a court in Sweden made a ruling in the case of a Palestinian man, born in Egypt, who was found guilty of participating in terrorist attacks against American and Israeli targets in the 1980s. According to the Associated Press, the man will serve a 30-year sentence rather than the life sentence he originally received.

As a result of the recent decision, Mohammed Abu Talb could find himself leaving prison in just two years. In Sweden, prisoners generally serve only two thirds of their sentenced jail time, and since Abu Talb was sent to prison at the beginning of 1990, he could be eligible for release soon.

Abu Talb was found guilty of bombing a synagogue as well as attacking the office of an American-based airline in Denmark in 1985. The attacks were responsible for the death of one person and resulted in several people being injured. During the trial, he was found guilty of being involved in another airline bombing in the Netherlands, the second being an Israeli airline.

On Wednesday the district court of Orebro agreed to a request to reduce Abu Talb’s sentence to 30 years as a result of evidence submitted by police and psychiatrists indicating that Abu Talb was unlikely to commit crimes or participate in terrorist activity in the future.

At the time the Associated Press released their report, Chief Prosecutor Anders Jakobsson had not confirmed if the decision would be appealed and was not available for comment on the matter.