Stockholm trial starts against man who aimed lorry at crowd

The trial of an Uzbek man who confessed to ramming a stolen lorry into a crowd in downtown Stockholm last year, killing five and injuring 14, started yesterday under heavy security.

Rakhmat Akilov appeared before the Stockholm District Court, where he is charged with terrorist-related murder and attempted murder. The prosecution has requested that he gets a life sentence and is extradited from Sweden.

Wearing a green fleece jacket, Mr Akilov was flanked by his defence lawyers.

He has said he wanted to punish Sweden for participating in the international coalition against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.

Throughout the nearly 10-month investigation, Mr Akilov has been co-operative, according to his lawyer and the prosecution.

Prosecutor Hans Ihrman described how Mr Akilov drove a stolen lorry into a crowd of shoppers on a busy shopping street outside an upmarket department store in Stockholm’s city centre. Mr Akilov was arrested hours later.

“Yes, it was Akilov who drove the truck that day,” said his lawyer, Johan Eriksson.

Five people were killed – a British man, a Belgian woman and three Swedes, including an 11-year-old girl.

“The case is about 40 seconds that changed for ever the lives of those who were on Drottninggatan” that day, prosecutor Hans Ihrman said.

Three interpreters were on hand during the trial, expected to end on May 9. A verdict is expected before the summer.

In a room adjacent to the 90-seat courtroom, relatives were listening quietly, some in each other’s arms, behind safety glass.

Inside the main court room, Mr Akilov stared at a screen where footage from the attack – including those he made while driving thelorry – were shown. While the prosecutor gave details about how Mr Akilov used 53 Sim cards and social media such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Viber, Facebook and Zello, he looked at papers calmly.

Mr Akilov had said he had offered to carry out the attack in Stockholm on behalf of ISIL. It was not clear whether the group had accepted his offer.

Investigators have found internet chat logs with unknown people in which Mr Akilov discussed becoming a martyr and swore allegiance to ISIL between January 12 last year and the attack on April 7, as well as a memory card with “material that can be connected to IS”, including execution videos.

The construction worker, who was 39 at the time of the attack, was subject to deportation from Sweden before the attack because his asylum application was rejected.

Security was high yesterday, with armed police officers and reporters going through metal detectors before entering the courtroom.