Kim Berglund was sentenced to death – he is suing the Swedish state

Kim Berglund was imprisoned in Thailand for eight years. Now he has returned to Sweden and is suing the state for SEK 44 million. He claims that the police subjected him to a criminal provocation.
– I know I’m right, says Kim Berglund in Efter fem.

Kim Berglund made huge money from smuggling and doping crimes in the early 2000s. He fled to Thailand to avoid a Swedish prison sentence and continued his illegal business there.

In Thailand, Kim began to be visited by a new acquaintance whom he calls “The Chemist”. The man moved into Kim’s house and built a drug lab in the garage. There he showed him how to make the drug methamphetamine.

Life in prison

In July 2010, Kim’s residence was stormed by both the Thai police and the US narcotics police. He was put in a Thai prison and sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.

Kim was in several different prisons where he had to survive on about two bowls of rice a day. Around 70 prisoners shared 60 square meters. Torture and executions were carried out in front of the inmates.

The most frightening thing about the prison time was realizing how little one’s life is worth. You were just cannon fodder in a big machine, he says.

After just over eight years, Kim had to serve the rest of his sentence in Sweden.

Suits the Swedish state

Together with the lawyer and former state prosecutor Nils-Eric Schultz, Kim has now filed a lawsuit of 44 million kroner against the state, where they claim that he was subjected to criminal provocation – a method that is prohibited under Swedish law.

They believe that the so-called “Chemist” had been coached by the Swedish National Criminal Police for 18 months, to help them frame Kim.

The trial is expected to begin next year. The Chancellor of Justice has declined to comment on the case in Efter fem.