Published: Less than 20 min ago
The two people suspected of serious illegal intelligence activities were arrested after a major operation. That the defense supports with two helicopters is not the norm, says Tony Ingesson at Lund University.
According to Säpo, the preliminary investigation against the two suspects has been going on for a long time. When they were arrested on Tuesday morning, both the police and the Armed Forces were involved in the operation, the latter with two helicopters.
– It’s not really typical, the police also have helicopters. It could indicate that something a little more unusual is going on, says Tony Ingesson, assistant lecturer in intelligence analysis at Lund University.
More is required for coarse
One of the persons is suspected of gross illegal intelligence activities against Sweden and against a foreign power, and the other of aiding and abetting the crimes.
According to Tony Ingesson, it is interesting that the suspicions partly also apply to intelligence activities against another country, and partly that the crime is already classified as serious.
– If you want to classify it as gross, you have to have a little more to go on, and a fairly concrete idea of what the purpose of what they were doing was, he says.
The need for intelligence has increased
The case has no connection to any other ongoing case that the Security Police has, according to Säpo. Tony Ingesson interprets it as meaning that the new case has nothing to do with the suspected spy brothers.
– The brothers have been arrested for a long time, and the main activity was even further back, he says.
There can be many explanations for new arrests that may be about espionage and gathering information against another country. Tony Ingesson believes that it could be a combination of an increased threat picture and a more active security police.
– The need for intelligence for virtually everyone has become greater because it is a tense situation; war in Ukraine, sabotage against Nord Stream and drone flights in Norway. You need more of that commodity and you need it faster. Then there will also be increased risk-taking, says Tony Ingesson.
– At the same time, all counterintelligence agencies are more on the lookout.