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The security police, Säpo, carried out the secret raid at 05:05 on Tuesday and struck several addresses. Witnesses tell how about ten plainclothes police officers entered the couple’s apartment in central Stockholm and that several loud bangs were heard.
Today, both were requested to be detained on probable cause, the higher degree of suspicion, for gross unauthorized position with secret information. According to district court documents, the crimes must have gone on for almost six months, from May 1 until Tuesday’s dawn raid. The crime scene stated in the documents is the “Greater Stockholm area”.
Had central roles – sensitive units
At 2:30 p.m., the district court notice came that the woman is being detained for the crime.
– I have no comments on the case at all, says her defense lawyer, Kristoffer Stahre.
When the woman was brought into the hall of the Stockholm district court and brought before the remand judge, she was handcuffed and covered with a green blanket over her head. The president of the court refused to start the hearing before she appeared.
At 3 p.m. the negotiations against the husband start. The man is a former high-ranking officer with a solid resume and a long career in the Armed Forces. He has worked in both Sweden and abroad and had central roles. Among other things in a number of sensitive departments such as within the military intelligence and security service, Must.
Studied the Russian language for several years
The former top military also has extensive knowledge of the Russian armed forces and is an expert on their warfare and the war in Ukraine. The man now works with defense issues at another authority.
His wife has for decades been employed at FRA, the Defense Radio Agency, whose operations are top secret and subject to strict secrecy. The authority works, among other things, with signal intelligence. The woman has also studied Russian for several years at university level.
The suspicions against the couple are described as very serious and relate to crimes against the security of the kingdom. The government has been informed about the case and according to information given to TV4 Nyheterna, the case is feared to grow.
TV4 Nyheterna has sought the ex-top military’s lawyer, Thomas Olsson. The two prosecutors from the National Security Unit, which is leading the case, do not want to comment.
The text is updated
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What is an unauthorized position with a secret assignment?
The crimes of espionage and unauthorized position with a secret mission fall under what is known as a crime against Sweden’s security.
The crimes involve the “unauthorized acquisition, transmission, release or disclosure of information” which is secret, for example defense matters, and which could damage Sweden’s security if disclosed to a foreign power.
The crime is serious if the information, among other things, “was of an extremely dangerous nature” or “regarded a relationship of great importance”.
If there is no intention to help a foreign power, the crime is unauthorized position with a secret mission.
The penalty scale for unauthorized occupation of the normal grade ranges from fines to imprisonment for a maximum of two years. For serious crimes, the maximum sentence is four years.
You can also be sentenced for negligence with secret information, if the crime has been committed through gross negligence.
Espionage, according to the law, is the intentional transfer, transmission or disclosure of secrets to a foreign power.
The penalty for espionage of the normal degree is a maximum of six years in prison, while aggravated espionage carries a prison term of between four and eighteen years or life.
Source: Paragraphs 5–9, Chapter 9 of the Criminal Code, Swedish Constitution
(TT-TV4 News)