During certain periods, the police have been able to follow the criminals' murder plans on the Encrochat messaging service in real time.

The men did not know then that French police had hacked the encrypted service.

- We would probably have been able to see murder here instead if the police had not had access to the Encrochat material in real time, said Michael Hansson, chamber prosecutor at the National Unit against International and Organized Crime, to TT before the start of the trial this autumn.

According to Hansson, up to five murders may have been averted by police surveillance.

Nine murders and attempted murders

The men were charged with, for example, preparation for murder, stamping for murder and attempted murder.

They should not be part of one and the same gang but have temporarily joined forces in a "war" against a 24-year-old man and the circle around him.

According to the prosecutor, the overall goal has been to take over the drug trade in Skåne, but there are also motives for revenge in the background.

A total of nine murders and several attempted murders are linked to the conflict.

Among other things, the murder of the mother of small children Karolin Hakim in August 2019 and the triple murder outside an internet café in central Malmö in the summer of 2018.

In the latter act, the 24-year-old rival was most likely the actual target.

He was hit by the volleys, but survived, as did two other men.

This is how SVT summed up the prosecution in September:

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Several of the accused meet outside the Court Center in Malmö.

Photo: From the police preliminary investigation