In recent years, war crimes charges have been brought in Europe against former fighters of warring factions that took part in the civil war in Liberia.

There have been trials and convictions in Switzerland and France. 

Liberian war crimes court advocates and their foreign partners are committed to bringing war criminals to justice.

Now there are reports that their sights are being turned to Sweden and other countries in the Nordic region of Europe.

A source told Nordic Africa News last year that there are former combatants from the various factions living in countries in the region as many Liberians sought asylum or migrated to the region for other reasons.

The source added that former combatants usually lie to unsuspecting immigration officers about their involvement in the war in Liberia as shown by cases in the US where guilty verdicts were brought down against former combatants who lied about their backgrounds.

“While we fight for a War Crimes Court for Liberia, we will also prosecute those in Europe and other places where it is possible to easily bring perpetrators of war crimes to court”, the source noted.

Under Swedish law, Swedish citizens and other nationals can be tried in local courts for crimes committed abroad.

Seven years ago,  Claver Berinkindi, a Swedish citizen of Rwandan origin was convicted for the crime of genocide in Rwanda and sentenced to life in prison.