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CRIME

Sweden Democrat MEP convicted of sexual assault

A Swedish appeals court has found a Sweden Democrat member of the European Parliament guilty of sexually assaulting a colleague.

Sweden Democrat MEP convicted of sexual assault
Peter Lundgren, a Swedish member of the European Parliament. Photo: Fredrik Persson/TT

Peter Lundgren, 58, who had been acquitted in a district court, was sentenced to a fine equivalent to 60 days’ salary after “the prosecution presented additional evidence” to the Göta Court of Appeal in south-western Sweden.

The court said it found “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the “MEP touched the breasts of the plaintiff against her will”, the court said in a statement.

Lundgren has served as a member of the European Parliament since 2014, when he became one of the Swedish far-right’s first members of the European Parliament.

He was re-elected in 2019.

In March 2018, he was accused of “putting his hands under (the victim’s) sweater and bra and putting his hands on her breasts”, according to the charge sheet.

The victim, whose name has not been disclosed publicly, was a member of the Swedish parliament at the time.

He risked two years in prison.

The scandal erupted in May 2019, when another MEP from the Sweden Democrats, Kristina Winberg, alerted the party leadership about Lundgren’s actions against another party member.

According to Swedish media, Winberg was stricken from the party’s list of candidates for the impending European elections after speaking out.

The Sweden Democrats called her behaviour “reprehensible” and “lacking judgement both in regard to (party) colleagues and staff”.

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LANDSLIDE

Swedish authorities: Worker negligence behind motorway landslide

Swedish authorities said on Thursday that worker negligence at a construction site was believed to be behind a landslide that tore apart a motorway in western Sweden in September.

Swedish authorities: Worker negligence behind motorway landslide

The landslide, which struck the E6 highway in Stenungsund, 50 kilometres north of Sweden’s second-largest city Gothenburg, ripped up a petrol station car park, overturned lorries and caved in the roof of a fast food restaurant.

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Prosecutor Daniel Veivo Pettersson said on Thursday he believed “human factors” were behind the landslide as “no natural cause” had been found during the investigation.

He told a press conference the landslide had been triggered by a nearby construction site where too much excavated material had been piled up, putting excessive strain on the ground below. 

“At this stage, we consider it negligent, in this case grossly negligent, to have placed so much excavated material on the site,” Pettersson said.

Pettersson added that three people were suspected of among other things gross negligence and causing bodily harm, adding that the investigation was still ongoing.

The worst-hit area covered around 100 metres by 150 metres, but the landslide affected an area of around 700 metres by 200 metres in total, according to emergency services.

Three people were taken to hospital with minor injuries after the collapse, according to authorities.

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