The man was arrested by Säpo in May last year on suspicion that he had leaked a document to an outside party. However, that part of the preliminary investigation has been closed.
“We had very good grounds to suspect that the act came from this official at the Government Office. But we have not been able to determine exactly when or under what circumstances it happened, so I have decided to close that part,” says prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist.
Instead, the officer is being charged over a number of documents that were found in connection with the raid on him.
The official denies any wrongdoing, and his lawyer, Thomas Olsson, is critical of the indictment.
“If you are conspiratorially inclined, you can imagine that the indictment is a way to justify the original action,” Olsson tells TV4.
Sweden’s security
However, Mats Ljungqvist firmly denies this.
“It’s quite common when we search houses that we find other things,” he says.
“And if, as in this case, we find documents that imply suspicion of a crime that could result in four years in prison – because that is actually on the penalty scale – then it would be misconduct for us not to investigate it.”
According to the indictment, the act is considered serious because the information concerns Sweden’s security.
“That will be up to the court to decide, but I claim that the documents were so secret that they are, as they say, of great importance to Sweden,” says Mats Ljungqvist.
No connections
There have previously been reports that the raid on the Foreign Ministry employee on May 11 last year could have been linked to the release of journalist Joakim Medin from a Turkish prison a few days later.
However, this was previously denied by Mats Ljungqvist, and that remains the case.
“They have nothing to do with each other. There is no such connection,” he says.
According to Säpo, there are also no connections to other legal proceedings.
“The case has had no connections to other preliminary investigations or legal proceedings, either in Sweden or any other country,” Säpo writes in a press release.
