He also said he supported the right of Iraqis to express themselves.

“The defense minister stands with the demonstrators and their legitimate demands and their constitutional right in demonstrating and protesting,” he wrote in his statement.

During the initial week of protests, Defense Ministry soldiers were responsible for killing a number of the approximately 100 people who died. But since then, the military is thought to have been mostly restrained and appeared to be trying to avoid the use of lethal force.

Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi removed a number of senior security force commanders over their handling of those initial demonstrations and referred them to the courts. But no ministers were censured for their handling of the protests.

[Update: Iraq’s Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said he would resign amid protests.]

While the Iraqi military played an important role in the early days of the protests, it was certainly not the only branch of the security forces responsible for using excessive force.

Both during the initial days of the protests and since there have been multiple other security forces involved in the sometimes violent responses. The Interior Ministry, as well as special forces responsible for protecting the Green Zone in Baghdad, have also been involved in some of the more aggressive tactics.

Regardless of what role Mr. al-Shammari played in the response to the protests, he could only be tried for crimes against humanity if he returned to Sweden, and he would have to do so voluntarily because there is no bilateral extradition treaty between the two countries, according to Pal Wrange , an international law expert at Stockholm University.

As for the other possible charges against Mr. al-Shammari in Sweden, the Swedish authorities have said little about them.