Ian Lundin speaks to journalists in the Stockholm district court in Stockholm, Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.  (Jonas Ekströmer/TT News Agency via AP)

Two executives of a Swedish oil exploration and production company accused of complicity in war crimes committed in Unity State 20 years ago went on trial in Stockholm on Tuesday, September 5.

The former CEO of Swedish oil company Lundin Oil, now known as Orron Energy, is going on trial together with the firm’s ex-vice president in Stockholm.

The two defendants were accused of complicity in war crimes committed under the regime of Omar al-Bashir in Sudan in what is now South Sudan 20 years ago.

The two men, Swede Ian Lundin and Swiss national Alex Schneiter, have denied wrongdoing. They risk life sentences if found guilty.

The Swedish government had to grant consent for a foreign national to be indicted for crimes committed in another country. However, the Swedish court system can generally prosecute such crimes.

The trial follows a 13-year investigation culminating in findings over 80,000 pages. Closing arguments are expected to be delivered in February 2026.

What are the defendants accused of?

The alleged crimes occurred between 1999 and 2003, with the two men accused of asking the Sudanese government to put its military in charge of security at one of Lundin Oil’s exploration fields in 1999 in South Sudan.

Prosecutors say this later led to “aerial bombardments from transport planes, shooting civilians from helicopter gunships, abducting and plundering civilians and burning entire villages and their crops.”

They argue that the two former executives were complicit because they knew Sudan’s government would take control of the area by “military force.”

“What constitutes complicity in a criminal sense is that they made these demands despite understanding or, in any case, being indifferent to the military and the militia carrying out the war in a way forbidden according to international humanitarian law,” chief public prosecutor Krister Petersson said.

War-torn region

The alleged crimes occurred after Lundin Oil struck oil in 1999 in the “Block 5A” field in Unity State of South Sudan.

Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) has waged war for decades in Sudan, which led to the separation of Sudan into two countries and South Sudan became independent in 2011.

Former President Omar al-Bashir, who ruled Sudan between 1989 and 2019, is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for genocide and other war crimes.

Prosecutors have asked to confiscate 2.4 billion kronor (€202 million, $218 million) from Orron Energy. That amount is equivalent to the company’s profit on selling its Sudan operations in 2003.