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CRIMINAL

Swedish pastor jailed for prayer circle rape

A Swedish Pentacostalist pastor has been sentenced to two years imprisonment for raping a member of a prayer group which he led at a church in Stockholm, according to a report in the Dagens Nyheter daily.

The married father of several children was sentenced at Södertörns district court in July in spite of his denials.

The man claimed that in fact it was he that had been raped by the woman, telling the court that once he had freed himself from “the grip of her limbs” he knelt by the side of the bed and prayed.

The pastor became friends with the woman at the prayer group and when she sought help finding a new room mate he offered to help, suggesting another single female member of the congregation.

But when the man turned up at the woman’s apartment, he came alone, bearing only a condom.

The pastor proceeded to suggest that the pair live in the apartment together, a suggestion the woman dismissed out of hand as she had no intention of living with a man.

After a conversation lasting around an hour, the woman rose to go to the toilet and when she opened the door found herself confronted by the pastor who dragged her into the bedroom and raped her.

The woman was left injured and shocked by the incident and has not been able to return to work since.

The newspaper reported that the pastor had previously been forced out of a Pentecostalist church in Stockholm after members of the congregation accused him of molestation.

On that occasion, three years ago, the police were not informed.

The Local/pvs

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SYRIA

Swiss woman stands trial for attempting to join Islamic State

A 31-year-old woman from Winterthur who tried to travel to Syria to join Islamic State (IS) is standing trial under Swiss anti-terror laws.

Swiss woman stands trial for attempting to join Islamic State
The federal criminal court in Bellinzona. Photo: Swiss Confederation/OFCL

The alleged ‘jihadi tourist' appeared before Switzerland's federal criminal court in Bellinzona on Friday, the Swiss news agency SDA reported. 

In December 2015, the woman, accompanied by her four-year-old child, attempted to travel to Syria via Greece and Turkey in order to join IS, the authorities allege. 

Her intended destination was Raqqa, which was at the time an IS stronghold in Syria.

The woman was prevented from continuing her journey by the Greek authorities and was arrested at Zurich airport on her return to Switzerland in January 2016. 

The Swiss attorney general's office filed an indictment against the Swiss national for offences under the federal law that bans terror groups including Isis. 

According to the indictment, the woman radicalized herself through internet propaganda after converting to Islam in 2009.

It says the Swiss national believed it was the duty of all Muslims to support IS.

She said she rejected western values.

This is only the second case concerning a so-called ‘jihadi tourist' to go before Switzerland's federal criminal court. 

The first prosecution of its kind took place in 2016, when a 26-year-old man was found guilty of attempting to travel to join Isis and given an 18-month suspended jail sentence.

Islamic State has been banned in Switzerland since 2014.