The district court in Afghanistan ruled that the main accused, Ahmad Farhad, pulled the trigger of the weapon that killed the Finnish aid workers last July.
Two other accomplices received five- and 2.5-year prison sentences for their role in the murders of the two women. News of the sentencing was first reported by the tabloid daily Ilta Sanomat.
According to Yle, Finnish Foreign Ministry officials remained silent on the sentencing before it was confirmed by authorities in Afghanistan. However the daily Helsingin Sanomat reported that the Foreign Ministry confirmed that the main accused faced execution.
The Ministry commented on a general level, saying that Finland did not support the death penalty.
“Finland like all other EU countries opposes the death penalty,” said head of the ministry’s human rights policy unit Nina Nordström.
“It’s an irreversible and inhumane sentence,” she added.
The Finnish aid workers were gunned down last summer in the Afghan city of Herat by assailants who followed their taxi on motorbikes and opened fire through the open window.
Both women were seasoned workers who had considerable experience in Afghanistan, having begun working there at the end of the 1990s. They were members of the Finnish Lutheran Mission and worked for the International Assistance Mission charity in mental health and improving the status of women.
