“We are not living in the Middle Ages”

SUNDSVALL. The well-known “swish list” which is connected to a major drug case has shaken the residents of Sundsvall.

Many who live here recognize at least some name on the list.

– I hope the list will be an eye-opener, says Sundsvall resident Manar Derawi.

“Your weekend spliff costs only fifty kroner and a thermos bomb at Skönsmon”, says a sign on a window of one of Sundsvall’s popular nightclubs.

“The only thing we pay for a fiver of weed is some shooting in Sallyhill,” reads another poster.

The message was rolled out in Sundsvall at the initiative of the municipality before the summer and can be seen in several places in the city.

On the list are names of people who made swish payments to a 28-year-old man who is indicted on suspicion of serious drug offences. The list has been used as part of the evidence against him in the large case concerning the drug market in Sundsvall, which is now being heard in the Attunda district court in Stockholm. The case has connections to the wave of violence in Stockholm and concerns a battle between the two criminal networks The Dalen network, led by Mikael “The Greek” Tenezos, and the Foxtrot network led by “Rawa “Kurdish fox” Majid.

The amounts swished have been variable. SEK 6,000. SEK 5,000. SEK 3,500. The payments have taken place at different times, often at night. Many were made a couple of years ago. Those who sent money are both young and adults. Among the names are bar staff, a journalist and hockey player.

No one on the list is suspected of anything, but the police believe that it is relevant to make transactions of a suspected pimp visible.

The list has caused great reactions throughout the country.

The former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson raged at a press conference about children being recruited into criminal gangs to do various types of tasks.

– For example, delivering drugs to party junkies in Sundsvall, she said.

Outside one of the city’s nightclubs, Centralen, stands the doorman Linus.

He has worked in the industry for nine years and grew up in Sundsvall. This evening, like all other evenings, he waits for the guests to trickle in.

He knows many of those on the list.

– The bad thing is that people are judged by society. People who access this list and have seen the names are judging without perhaps knowing if it is true or not. Then we have a problem with drugs and we want to get rid of it one way or another, says Linus.

Across the central square, live music can be heard from a solo artist playing in one of the bars.

Some guys say that the list has become something people joke about. “Why not use cash if you’re going to buy drugs?”

Neo Westling, 18, works in the pub business but this evening he is off and going out with some friends. They stop in the square, between the bars Bloco and Svenssons.

– I know some on the list, it was a bit shocking, says Neo.

In connection with the list becoming public in the preliminary investigation, several people were fired from their jobs.

Neo Westling doesn’t think it’s remarkable.

– Above all when it comes to restaurants, they must have an outward image. If people are on the list and work in the restaurant industry, it is not the worst role model. So it’s no wonder people get fired. But it’s a shame about the colleagues, he says.

Neither police nor prosecutors have determined whether the payments that went to the phone are legitimate or illegitimate.

But Henrik Blusi, municipal police in Sundsvall, believes that the list, together with other information, is nevertheless a sign of widespread drug use. He refers to measurements of the city’s wastewater.

– There we have found traces that indicate that people have bought or used cocaine, tramadol or cannabis for SEK 54 million.

Henrik Blusi says, however, that he is sure that similar information could be obtained in other Swedish cities.

– This is quite black and white. Many of the phone numbers on the lists go to what we call “Svenssons”.

The police have said that they intend to proceed further and see if there are grounds for a criminal investigation.

– We will analyze which people are included. How much you are suspected of having bought and how often you appear in other criminal cases. And if you have children and there is a suspicion, then we have an obligation to make a report to the social services, says Henrik Blusi.

Robert Gatugård has just finished a lunch lecture in the church in the Granloholm area when Aftonbladet meets him.

He works as a drug coordinator in Sundsvall municipality.

– I read that even in Mexico this list has been rewritten.

What Robert Gatugård is referring to is that Excélsior, one of Mexico City’s major daily newspapers, recently wrote that Sundsvall is a strategic location for the drug trade in Sweden.

His opinion on the list is divided.

– First of all, you should bring with you, and be aware that, no one on the list is suspected of crime so far. The police are investigating this and will investigate, or whatever they are going to do, they haven’t decided that either if I understood correctly.

– But the mob judges and that’s the way it is. In that people have been fired from their jobs without perhaps admitting. I’m not saying anything about it, but it’s important that the legal side takes its course in the whole thing. Otherwise, we have a dangerous development, says Robert Gatugård.

Manar Derawi is another Sundsvall resident who thought of it.

She grew up here and has lived here all her life. She says that this has changed her view of the city.

– I hope the list will be an eye-opener. Because in this society it is very much about a certain group in society often being blamed for this gang crime and drugs. And this drug sale helps drive gang crime, Manar says, continuing:

– This list shows that it is ordinary “svenssons” who contribute to the promotion of gang crime and can be driven forward. So I hope people understand that you can’t just blame one group in society for a big social problem that includes different groups in society.

Niklas Säwén is a social democratic politician and municipal councilor in Sundsvall. He believes that the list confirms a development that the city has seen for a long time.

– The problem with increased drug use is not unique to Sundsvall, it is a problem we see in many Swedish cities right now. What we want to say is that we see a growing drug market in Sundsvall and we see the increase that has taken place in recent years. The one that is primarily run by people with fairly orderly relationships who use drugs for pleasure and in that way finance criminal activities that we do not want in Sundsvall.

There is a debate about how important the “party junkies” really are for the financing of the criminal networks. And Niklas Säwén does not want to hang anyone out as a scapegoat.

– What is important to remember is that we from the municipality never said that the majority of drug users in Sundsvall are party drug addicts. On the other hand, we have established that the increase, which we have been able to see based on close dialogue with the police, is largely based on more Sundsvall residents using drugs for recreational purposes, says Niklas.

He emphasizes that it is important to keep two thoughts in mind.

– Those who have an addiction must get help and support from society to get out of it. But those who take drugs for fun on Friday and Saturday nights need to see that their actions also contribute to the financing of criminal activity.

The list came out not long after the municipality began its offensive campaign against drugs. Is there a connection in the municipality’s push against the list and the ongoing campaign?

Daniel Brodén, chief prosecutor at the Prosecutor’s Chamber in Sundsvall, justifies the decision not to mask the list as follows:

– The list has been considered to be important evidence against one of the defendants regarding serious criminality in the ongoing trial. Then it must be included in the preliminary investigation and submitted to the district court and invoked. The main rule then is that the material is public, says Daniel Brodén and continues:

– In order for it to be comprehensible as evidence, the name could not be masked. However, the list has been de-identified in such a way that all telephone numbers have been masked. Thus, as an outsider, you cannot identify with certainty who is behind the given name.

But the decision has received criticism from several quarters.

Last week, a report was received by the Ombudsman. There, criticism was directed at the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s handling of the names on the list.

Another critic is the lawyer Kristofer Stahre, who defends the accused 28-year-old who is alleged to have had the “beccanar phone”.

– I think it is simply a very strange way for the police to work. It’s 2023, we live in a state governed by the rule of law, we don’t live in the Middle Ages where we have to put people on a pole of shame that people can throw rotten tomatoes at, he says.

Stahre believes that there is a signal value in including the list in the preliminary investigation.

It will be difficult for the police to go ahead and investigate the list, he believes.

– They have to make sure that it was actually narcotics that were handed over and my client has said in questioning that he did not hand over narcotics to any of the people on the list. So good luck getting some information out of him, says Stahre and continues:

– I find it very difficult to see how the police will be able to secure evidence this long after the fact. And of course they know that. That’s why they act this way and put resources into at least trying.

Back to the evening in central Sundsvall.

The friends Maja, Edith and Elma are too young to be out in the pubs and bars. They are on their way to the cinema.

But even though they are only 15 years old, they have full control of the list.

– I think more people may feel much worse because it came out. It feels a little strange that it is allowed to come out at all, says Maja.

Friend Edith says she understands there are divided opinions on whether or not the list should have expired.

– I don’t think they thought it would get as big as it did.

THE FACTS NARCOTICS HÄRVAN IN SUNDSVALL

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