Today two men were convicted of gross espionage at the Stockholm District Court. One of them was also convicted of unauthorised handling of secret information. The sentence for one of them was decided to life imprisonment and for the other one 9 years and 10 months imprisonment.

The court considered it confirmed that the men during nearly ten years of time, on behalf of the Russian Federation and the Russian Intelligence GRU, amongst other things acquired and disclosed information revealed to a foreign power that may cause damage to Sweden's security. The verdict ascertain that the acquisition of data took place within the framework of one the men's employment at the Security Service and at the Swedish Armed Forces. The investigation has been ongoing since 2017 by the Security Service lead by prosecutors at the National Security Unit. The indicted men have been detained since September and November 2021 respectively. After the hearing, the district court decided that they should remain in custody with restrictions. A major part of the information in the indictment is confidential. The district court has defined in the verdict that it shall proceed so. The prosecutors will therefore have limited possibilities to comment on the verdict. “We are satisfied with the district court's assessments of both the liability and penalty issues” says Mats Ljungqvist, Senior Prosecutor at the National Security Unit. “The two men have been convicted of very serious crimes against Sweden's intelligence and security system. The investigation has been characterized by very good cooperation between the authorities”, says Per Lindqvist, Chief Public Prosecutor at the National Security Unit. Case number in the Stockholm District Court: B 14349-21. Both prosecutors are available for brief comments by phone today at 13-15 o’clock. No pre-booked interviews.     Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20