The Alto Norrland Court of Appeals decided that Yazied Mohamed, an 18-year-old Eritrean refugee convicted of raping Meya Åberg, 16, will not be deported once he serves his sentence.
The attack occurred on September 1, 2024, when the young woman was walking home after missing the bus following her shift at McDonald’s. In a pedestrian tunnel, she was intercepted and sexually assaulted by Mohamed.
The victim and her family reported the incident immediately. The court sentenced him to only three years in prison, but the tribunal ruled that the rape "did not last long enough" to be considered an "exceptionally serious crime" and, therefore, did not apply deportation.
The arguments of the ruling
According to Swedish law, refugees can only be expelled if they commit a crime considered "exceptionally serious" or if they pose a "serious threat to public order and security."
In its ruling, the tribunal stated that, although the crime was serious, "the duration of the attack" was one of the determining factors for not considering it within that category.
