A person recently arrested in Sweden on suspicion of espionage is a top-level diplomat who has held several postings around the world, according to media reports.
A person recently arrested in Sweden on suspicion of espionage is a top-level diplomat who has held several postings around the world, according to media reports.
A person recently arrested in Sweden on suspicion of espionage is a top-level diplomat who has held several postings around the world, according to media reports.
The diplomat is suspected of spying that took place in Stockholm during the period May 1st to 11th, public broadcaster SVT said.
A spokesman for the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), Johan Wikström, told AFP on Monday that “an operation was carried out the other day in the Stockholm area, after which one person is under arrest”, adding that Säpo had opened an “espionage” case.
Säpo has provided no other details about the case.
According to SVT, there is a connection between the arrest and leaked Grindr images which forced newly-appointed national security adviser Tobias Thyberg to resign last week before even starting his new job. Säpo has not confirmed this.
According to court documents obtained by AFP on Tuesday, the suspect has been assigned a court-appointed lawyer, Anton Strand.
Contacted by AFP on Tuesday, the foreign ministry refused to answer questions about the case and referred media to the justice ministry.
Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer has yet to reply to AFP.
“A number of measures have been taken as part of the Swedish Security Service’s preliminary investigation, among other things a person has been arrested suspected of espionage,” Strömmer told SVT.
“This is of course a serious suspicion.”
“The investigation will now follow its course and I can’t prejudge it. The government is being kept abreast of developments and is in close contact with the relevant authorities,” he said.
A video clip published by SVT showed what it said was the diplomat’s apartment door forcibly opened by police.
Sweden has in recent years seen several high-profile spying cases.
In January 2023, a former Swedish intelligence officer was handed a life sentence for spying for Russia.
And in September of the same year, a Russian-Swedish national went on trial accused of passing Western technology to Russia’s military.
A Stockholm court found he had exported the material but ruled his actions did not amount to intelligence-gathering.
In February 2024, the Swedish Agency for Support for Faith Communities cut funding to the Russian Orthodox Church in Sweden, after Säpo warned that it believed the church was being used for intelligence activities.
In its annual assessment, published in March, Säpo spotlighted Russia, China and Iran as the primary actors directing intelligence activities targeting the Nordic country.