A few years ago, the Swedish Bar Association conducted a survey which showed that every fourth lawyer had at some point been subjected to threats and hatred.
– The threats mean that there is a risk that you simply cannot practice your profession, and that affects those who need help, says the Bar Association’s general secretary Mia Edwall Insulander.
Now the community is alarming that the situation for the country’s lawyers has become even worse since then.
– Since 2018, it is my assessment that it has gotten worse and I base that on the number of calls and contacts we receive, says Mia Edwall Insulander.
Something that, according to the Bar Association, further complicates the lawyers’ situation, is that they do not have the same protection as, for example, prosecutors have. The public prosecutor’s office has its own security department with a special entrance. Lawyers, on the other hand, are independent professionals, have their own companies and many work alone in their offices.
– There are not quite the same opportunities for a broad protection and security approach for lawyers, says Mia Edwall Insulander.
Pressures during investigations
Last year, lawyer Jens Nyström represented the 15-year-old who was sentenced to forensic psychiatric care for aggravated rape of a child and attempted murder of a nine-year-old girl in Skellefteå. During the course of the investigation, he received both emails and calls with pressure and threats.
– It was the first time I really felt that this was a vulnerable situation, and that they would like to see that I wasn’t there either. I found it to be quite uncomfortable. says Jens Nyström and continues:
– My wife received a call. There were calls, and there was moaning on the phone and it was requested that they want to talk to me. In that situation, when it is not connected to me but they attack my family, then I experienced that it became awkward, he says.
In most cases, the attacks stop at verbal attacks or threats. But sometimes it takes longer. Two years ago, an explosive device detonated outside a lawyer’s home in Stockholm. Another lawyer who has experienced physical violence is Johan Eriksson, who represented Rakhmat Akilov, suspected and later convicted of the terrorist act on Drottninggatan in 2017.
Support group to help the vulnerable
For some time now, there has been a support group for vulnerable lawyers, which consists of lawyers who themselves have been exposed to threats and hatred.
– This is a focus issue for us this particular year, to do something about the increased threat and hatred. It is also, by extension, somehow a question of democracy. It is very important that you don’t have to be worried and feel afraid, says the Bar Association’s general secretary Mia Edwall Insulander.