Sweden expands espionage legislation, endangers the freedom of journalists and whistleblowers
by Kevin Gosztola / The Dissenter
Sweden’s Riksdag passed a major expansion of spy legislation that will allow the country’s police to investigate journalists, publicists and whistleblowers if they reveal secret information that “could damage Sweden’s relationship with another state or an international organization.”
Journalists, publishers or whistleblowers found guilty of disclosing such “harmful” information may be convicted up to four years in prison under the new law.
The expansion aimed to ensure that the Swedish government has even more control over what the public learns about the country’s cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union and the United Nations.
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Specifically, the measure could help authorities ensure that information about the war in Ukraine remains hidden and does not contribute to fatigue that has spread among the public. The measure can also assure the US military and security authorities that Sweden can be trusted as an ally to crack down on leaks of information from their close partnership is subject to review.
Two votes were required by the Riksdag to Pass the measure, which has been widely condemned by media organizations and press freedom groups in Sweden. The first vote took place on 16 April 2022, and after a parliamentary election, a second vote was held on 16 November.
While the Left Party and the Green Party recommended that the second vote be postponed until next year, the right-wing Sweden Democrats, the Center Party, the Moderates and the Liberals believed that the bill giving the Security Authority more investigative powers was necessary.
As the Association of Journalists in Sweden is described, starting on January 1, “Anyone who promotes, provides or discloses information covered by the provision on foreign espionage can also be convicted of unauthorized position with secret information. This means that the situations in which a journalist can be convicted are expanded.”
“The provision on foreign espionage covers “secret information that takes place within the framework of a collaboration with another state or an international organization or in an international organization of which Sweden is a member”. So it is not about all the information about other states, but the decisive thing is whether they appear within the framework of a collaboration in which Sweden is included.”
Nils Funcke, press freedom expert in Sweden, recognized that the measure has a small safety valve for media organizations. If the publication was “justifiable”, shops could escape punishment under the law. But Funcke noted that what is “justifiable” is up to the courts, which will undoubtedly be more inclined to view cases from the nationalist perspective of security agents defending their charges.
Officials, security agents or military officers from countries outside of Sweden, especially the United States, could possibly invoke the measure and pressure the Swedish government to bring charges.
Consider this example from 2013: Sweden’s Television published details from documents disclosed by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden that showed Sweden was a “key partner” in helping the US spy against Russia.
Revelations of the close relationship came from a document dated April 18, 2013, which indicated that the Defense Radio Agency (FRA) had “provided NSA…a unique collection on high-priority Russian targets, such as leadership, domestic politics.”
Under the expanded law, quoting of a secret US document – as Swedish public television did – by authorities could be interpreted as damaging to Sweden’s relationship with the US or the country’s standing in NATO, particularly as it pertains to the government’s ability to covertly pursue targets. equally crucial to fighting Russia in Ukraine.
Going back to 2005, such a law would have made it more difficult for the Swedish media to expose their government’s role in the CIA’s rendition and torture of prisoners in the “global war on terror”.
Johanne Hildebrandt, Swedish war correspondent, warned“The change could make war reporting from the field impossible. If I follow Swedish troops and see the US bombing a village so that civilians die, my reporting could be criminalized because it damages Sweden’s relations with the US.”
“It is difficult enough to report from war zones. The law would lead to reduced insight. Who decides what can damage Sweden’s relations? Officers and soldiers will say no to journalists for fear of making a mistake,” Hildebrandt added.
Swedish security agents are given increased authority to launch raids against the media and seize electronic equipment in order to identify sources who have provided information to journalists.
2016, UN whistleblower Anders Kompass exposed sexual abuse of children by peacekeepers in the Central African Republic. He condemned the UN for failing to hold anyone accountable and for retaliating against him.
“The complete impunity of those who have been found to have, to varying degrees, abused their authority, along with the reluctance of the hierarchy to express any remorse for the way they acted toward me sadly confirms that the lack of accountability is entrenched in the United States of Nations. It makes it impossible for me to continue working there,” declared Kompass.
Advocates believe that if Kompass, who is from Sweden, had come forward after the law was expanded, he would have faced legal jeopardy. His resignation and comments hit the image of the UN in Sweden, and as the law says, anyone who releases information that could “damage” Sweden’s relationship with an international organization could be targeted.
Arne Ruth Sigyn Meder, advocate at the Julian Assange Support Committee in Sweden, marked US prosecution against Assange. His journalism exposed war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and yet he is a target of the US Espionage Act.
“Foreign and Swedish media, including SVT and Dagens Nyheter, published the information from Wikileaks, but have later been largely silent about the gross legal abuse he was subjected to, which has been extensively documented by Nils Melzer, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” according to Meder.
Publishing classified information as WikiLeaks did is the type of journalistic activity that Sweden criminalizes through this law.
Indeed, US Justice Department prosecutors have used the US Espionage Act to criminalize the disclosure of information that could cause ‘damage’ to the US government’s relationship with another state or international organization.” Although the US military and government lacked clear evidence of damage, they accused Chelsea Manning, and now Assange, of violating the Espionage Act for releasing US State Embassy cables.
Sweden’s expanded spy law must not completely deter Swedish media from reporting on Swedish military and security operations, including Sweden’s close relationship with the United States. Journalists, editors and media producers can still publish classified information that furthers the agenda of the US, NATO, the EU and the UN.
But those in the press who act independently and dare to scrutinize the common goals and objectives of Western security partnerships or military alliances would be vulnerable to repression – and that is the intention.
The expansion of the security agency’s power is intended to make individuals who are not blindly supportive of the US and NATO think twice about exposing any alleged abuses, corruption, recklessness or wrongdoing that would cause one to reconsider their support.