On Monday, Samnytt reported that the Syrian man Wictor Haji Rashid repeatedly raped his ten-year-old stepdaughter over two years. Despite the prosecutor demanding that the man be deported to his home country, that did not happen. The presiding judge Tommy Eriksson and lay judges from the Moderate Party, Social Democrats, and Green Party stopped the deportation, arguing that it would severely affect the man’s children. In an interview with citizen journalist Joakim Lamotte, Tommy Eriksson defended the verdict by saying that the Syrian is not a pedophile towards all of his children.
Between 2024 and 2026, Wictor Haji Rashid, formerly known as Azdyn, on repeated occasions raped his ten-year-old stepdaughter. The girl had come to see the man as her father and, according to the verdict, tried to tell others about the abuse but was not believed.
The girl lived with her mother and stepfather Rashid. In interviews with child protection, she described the abuse starting with touching, then escalating to vaginal, anal, and oral intercourse, both at home and other locations.
Eventually, she hid her phone under a pillow to record what happened herself. On the recording, according to the verdict, the girl can be heard saying “ouch” several times and expressing that she did not want to. Despite this, the abuse continued.
Örebro District Court found the girl’s account credible and also noted that she was a child and that the adult had “total responsibility.”
The man was sentenced to five years in prison for multiple instances of aggravated child rape. The prosecutor also demanded that he be deported from Sweden. According to information, the Migration Agency saw no obstacle to deportation to Syria.
Deportation would harm the children
The District Court, consisting of Judge Tommy Eriksson and lay judges Ann Speychal (M), Bo Stenberg (S), and Elisabet Franzén (MP), made a different assessment.
The man had lived in Sweden for over ten years and had several children in the country. The court thus considered that his connection to Sweden was “fairly strong” and that a deportation would “fairly severely” affect both the man and his children.
The prosecutor has presented a deportation request against Wictor Rashid. The Migration Agency, in its statement, stated that there were no obstacles to deporting him. However, it can be established that Wictor Rashid has been living in Sweden for over ten years and he has several children in Sweden of varying ages.
The District Court therefore finds that his connection to the kingdom is fairly strong, and thus a deportation would severely affect both him and his children. Therefore, the District Court rejects the request for deportation.
– Örebro District Court
“Please”
Citizen journalist Joakim Lamotte was able to reach Tommy Eriksson and interviewed him about the high-profile verdict. The focus was specifically on how the man’s children could be weighed in the judgment when it also concerned repeated sexual assaults against a child in his own family.
When Lamotte asks how the children can be used as grounds for letting the man stay, Eriksson responds:
– Please, maybe he’s not a pedophile towards all of his children?
Lamotte then asks if Eriksson means that the man would only be a pedophile toward one of the children.
– Well, whether he is or not otherwise, we don’t know that. Then there’s the question of whether he’s a pedophile in that sense, Eriksson replies.
The judge then elaborates and distinguishes between a person who abuses one particular child and what he describes as pedophilia.
– In my opinion, there is a difference between someone who, for some reason, targets one child but has several others around them. What we call pedophilia, that’s when you are interested in anything small that moves. It’s not always the same thing, says Eriksson.
The judge under scrutiny
According to Joakim Lamotte, this is not the first time Tommy Eriksson has received media attention. Eriksson previously accepted a summary penalty order for molestation following an incident with his then-wife.
According to the details relayed by Lamotte, the woman claimed that Eriksson strangled her and threw her on the floor. Her injuries were documented by a doctor.
When Lamotte asks Eriksson about the incident, he at first does not want to comment.
– Things that happened 20 years ago, I’m not going to comment on, says Eriksson in the interview, and continues:
– It was 19 years ago. Most people would say there’s something called the statute of limitations.
The judge has also previously been criticized by the Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO) following an incorrect adoption decision where the biological parents had not been given the opportunity to comment. Eriksson then himself admitted that the decision had been “completely incorrect” and referred to lack of oversight and diligence.
He was also put in focus in 2024 after a trial where he was accused of falling asleep during the proceedings. The Göta Court of Appeal found that, at the very least, he had been so inattentive that there were deficiencies in the court’s quorum. The trial thus needed to be redone.
@joakimlamotte I managed to reach the judge who let a child rapist avoid deportation. The full interview is available on my news site.