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A married couple with a background in the Swedish military and intelligence service is suspected of crimes against the security of the kingdom. Intelligence expert Wilhelm Agrell sees a possible connection to Russian spy Peyman Kia.
– It is conceivable that one matter led to another, he says.
The couple was arrested by the Security Police on Tuesday morning. According to consistent media reports, the man has held several senior positions within the Swedish Armed Forces. According to SVT Nyheter, the woman is employed at the signals intelligence agency Försvarets radioanstalt (FRA).
Neither the Swedish Armed Forces nor FRA wanted to comment on the data. Säpo has contented itself with confirming that two people have been arrested on probable cause on suspicion of gross unauthorized position with secret information and that it is a matter of “very serious crime”.
According to Wilhelm Agrell, professor of intelligence analysis, it is difficult to speculate about what the criminal suspects are when so little is known.
– It may very well be espionage, but for evidentiary reasons it is easier at an early stage to take the broader classification of gross unauthorized occupation, which includes a variety of acts – from pure carelessness to de facto espionage.
Possible spy connection
– If you have secret documents lying around at home, it is of course extremely inappropriate, but there is a very big difference to handing them over to a foreign power. It is not a difference of degree, but a difference of species.
Even Joakim von Braun, an intelligence expert with a background in Säpo and the Swedish Armed Forces, believes that the broader classification is initially a safer card.
– You start at the lowest level for which you think you have solid evidence. Then, during the journey, you can take on greater and more serious responsibilities. Based on how Säpo speaks, one can probably assume that it is probably very serious.
Peyman Kia, recently sentenced to life imprisonment for aggravated espionage, was initially suspected of aggravated unauthorized position with a secret mission, a suspicion that was later intensified.
Säpo states that “at present” there are no connections to previous cases. But according to Wilhelm Agrell, it is still entirely possible that the investigation around Kia led to the now arrested couple.
– In one espionage target, you often find clues that lead to another, even if they do not have to be connected to each other in terms of espionage. It is conceivable that one case led to the other, but they could also be completely unrelated.
Pull and counter pull
The number of cases of suspected and confirmed espionage has increased in recent years both in Sweden and the rest of the Western world. A result, both Agrell and von Braun believe, of increased intelligence activities and similarly stepped-up counter-espionage.
– The West and Sweden have stepped up their vigilance. My picture is also that the Russians seem to be more careless now than they were before. It may be due to the internal pressure to acquire intelligence and technology that you have great use for, says Joakim von Braun.
According to Wilhelm Agrell, international trust in Sweden and the Swedish intelligence service took a hit when the former Säpo employee Peyman Kia was revealed to have spied on behalf of Russia for many years. What another revelation of similar caliber would mean for the reputation remains to be seen.
– The fact that, in the case of Kia, they let in a person who was literally rampaging freely for a long time on a fairly loose basis is nothing that strengthens Sweden’s reputation. If the current disclosure were to show continued shortcomings in recruitment, review of personnel and security procedures, it is of course not good. However, it can be just the opposite if it turns out that a potentially dangerous spy has been located and neutralized at an early stage.
Decisions on possible detention are made during the day.
FACTS Offense against the security of the kingdom
The crimes of espionage and unauthorized position with a secret mission fall under what is known as a crime against Sweden’s security.
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 – such as defense matters – 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
Read moreFACTSPrevious cases
Several people have been prosecuted this year for gross unauthorized positions with secret information.
In May, a man in his 50s was charged at the Gothenburg district court with gross unauthorized position with secret information. He was accused of running a database that formed the basis for the exchange of secret information with other people. The month before, another man was charged, suspected of having spread information on the same forum. Judgments have not been announced in any of the cases.
Several other previous cases where they have fallen can be linked to the forum.
In June, a 70-year-old man was sentenced for gross unauthorized position with secret information, after secret and sensitive material about 41 military defense facilities was found in the man’s residence during a house search. The man, who is described as interested in military history, is said to have also created an online forum for like-minded people. He was sentenced to a suspended sentence and daily fines.
In August, three people were charged in different parts of the country with gross unauthorized positions with secret information. One of them is a former defense employee from Östersund, who shared defense secrets on an online forum, according to P4 Jämtland.
Peyman Kia, who earlier in the year received a life sentence for aggravated espionage, was also convicted of unauthorized position with a secret mission.
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