Malmö court jails man for murder: 'It was an execution'
A 23-year-old man has been locked up for life for shooting a man dead and wounding another in Malmö.
Malmö District Court on Friday sentenced Zakriya Awad Mezar to life in jail for murdering a 24-year-old man in Malmö last summer, and attempting to kill another.
The 24-year-old was shot dead in broad daylight at around 3pm on July 3rd in the southern Swedish city's Nydala park, in the vicinity of a preschool where children were playing outside at the time.
Four young men were brought to trial earlier this year, accused of having plotted to lure the 24-year-old and the 29-year-old, who survived, to the park where they were later shot.
"It was an execution," said the district court in a judgment seen by The Local.
The 24-year-old was shot four times in the back. The older man said he had only survived because Mezar ran out of bullets.
Mezar denied the charges, arguing that there was no forensic evidence linking him to the scene, and the murder weapon was never found.
But the district court found that based on the surviving victim's testimony and other witness reports, it had been proven "beyond reasonable doubt" that Mezar held and fired the gun, killing one and injuring the other.
The other three suspects were cleared of the murder and attempted murder charge, after the prosecutor failed to prove that they had understood that Mezar's intent had been to shoot and kill the victims.
The court instead found two of them guilty of aggravated fraud and money laundering. It also ordered Mezar to pay around 460,000 kronor ($48,000) in damages to the 29-year-old and the 24-year-old's family.
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Malmö District Court on Friday sentenced Zakriya Awad Mezar to life in jail for murdering a 24-year-old man in Malmö last summer, and attempting to kill another.
The 24-year-old was shot dead in broad daylight at around 3pm on July 3rd in the southern Swedish city's Nydala park, in the vicinity of a preschool where children were playing outside at the time.
Four young men were brought to trial earlier this year, accused of having plotted to lure the 24-year-old and the 29-year-old, who survived, to the park where they were later shot.
"It was an execution," said the district court in a judgment seen by The Local.
The 24-year-old was shot four times in the back. The older man said he had only survived because Mezar ran out of bullets.
Mezar denied the charges, arguing that there was no forensic evidence linking him to the scene, and the murder weapon was never found.
But the district court found that based on the surviving victim's testimony and other witness reports, it had been proven "beyond reasonable doubt" that Mezar held and fired the gun, killing one and injuring the other.
The other three suspects were cleared of the murder and attempted murder charge, after the prosecutor failed to prove that they had understood that Mezar's intent had been to shoot and kill the victims.
The court instead found two of them guilty of aggravated fraud and money laundering. It also ordered Mezar to pay around 460,000 kronor ($48,000) in damages to the 29-year-old and the 24-year-old's family.
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