Published: Just now
Two journalists were taken away by the police in connection with their coverage of a climate action in Stockholm in June. Now the Chancellor of Justice (JK) is launching a preliminary investigation into violations of the investigation ban and misconduct.
The Association of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders Sweden reported the intervention earlier this summer. The organizations criticize both the abduction itself and the police’s lack of respect for source protection. The journalists are said to have been asked questions about how they knew the demonstration would take place, which the journalists perceived as a way to investigate sources.
The police must have stated that the journalists were taken away with the support of Section 13 of the Police Act to “prevent criminal activity”. The police also allegedly denied evidence other than press identification, which none of the journalists had with them, writes Dagens Nyheter.
Varg Gyllander, national press manager at the police, welcomes the preliminary investigation.
– I had a meeting with the Association of Journalists and we agreed that it is good to do a review of this case, because it is difficult for both police and journalists to know where the line is in a situation where it is chaotic, he says to DN.
Erik Halkjær, chairman of Reporters Without Borders Sweden, sees the police’s actions as incomprehensible.
“We have had a good dialogue, but it is still incomprehensible that the police acted as they did. Hopefully, JK’s investigation leads to the police improving their routines,” he says in a press release.