Swedish ‘poop terrorist’ no show at trial

The man, who is in his 70s, has sent hundreds of letters to reporters and editors at public service TV and radio, as well as to the newsroom at the commercial broadcaster TV4. He interlaced racist terms with a long range of threats to the addressees, including promises of abduction, rape, bombings and murder. In some cases, he included his own faeces or dog poo for good measure.

It took several years for the Swedish police to home in on the culprit, Dagens Nyheter reported on Wednesday. In the end, Sveriges Radio and Posten, Sweden's post office, decided to intensify their own investigation and managed to locate the man in central Sweden. 

He has pleaded guilty to nine counts of illegal threats and expressed his remorse at his actions, but failed to turn up on Wednesday for trial. While he sent hundreds of letters, the time span of his crimes is such that some had passed the statute of limitations for prosecution. In some cases, the victims decided not to file charges.

The suspect told the police that he had fallen foul of Sweden's "liberal immigration" and said the journalists he contacted were guilty of not being critical enough when it came to stories about migration.