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Swedish Supreme Court judge fined for stealing a Christmas ham

A Supreme Court justice in Sweden has been fined for shoplifting a Christmas ham or julskinka, among other items, the prosecutor in the case said on Thursday.

Published: 31 March 2022 18:48 CEST

Swedish Supreme Court judge fined for stealing a Christmas ham

The judge was found guilty of attempting to steal a Christmas ham such as the one pictured. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

The 67-year-old woman was caught by staff at a grocery store in central Stockholm a week before Christmas.

“I have issued a fine regarding the crime petty theft, previously known as shoplifting,” chief public prosecutor Per Nichols told AFP.

The judge resigned from her post in February — when reports emerged that she was being investigated — after having served two decades on the bench. Among other things, she had tried to hide a Christmas ham, meatballs, sausages and cheese in a woven bag by covering them with another bag, according to legal news outlet Dagens Juridik.

The judge admitted to the facts but denied any intention to steal the groceries, and was issued a fine of 50,000 Swedish kronor ($5,400, 4,800 euros), Nichols added.

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Sweden calls Iranian diplomat to meeting over gang crime allegations

“I will of course inform our partners, not least in the EU. As everyone knows we have an ongoing discussion about Iran in the EU,” Billström told Swedish news agency TT in a statement.

“What we’re now seeing is a link between criminal networks and state actors. It’s deeply concerning that a foreign power, in this case Iran, is said to have used criminal networks to commit or conspire to commit crimes in Sweden.”

Billström told Swedish and Finnish journalists in Prague that he would be discussing it with EU colleagues at a Nato meeting in the Czech capital.

“A number of our Nato colleagues are also EU colleagues, so naturally there will be some discussion about this,” he said.

His comments came after Swedish security service Säpo confirmed reports from their Israeli counterparts, Mossad, that Säpo had established that the Iranian regime had recruited criminal gangs in Sweden to attack other states, including on Swedish soil.

“The security-threatening activities of the Iranian regime and its security services have also targeted representatives of other states, including Israel, that Iran regards as enemies of its regime. Such activities could be carried out with a view to harming Israeli and Jewish interests, targets, and activities in Sweden,” said Säpo, adding that it had already thwarted several Iranian activities in Sweden.

Although Säpo did not comment on any specific incidents, it was widely reported that Majid’s contacts were behind a hand grenade attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm in January, allegedly acting on the orders of the Iranian regime.

Rivalry between Majid’s Foxtrot gang and a breakout group led to a series of deadly shootings and explosions in Sweden. He is said to have been given the choice between prison and cooperation when he was arrested in Iran.

“We know what kind of state Iran is. We have no illusions about the ambitions of Iranian leadership,” Billström was quoted by TT as saying.

“We have also, as has been revealed earlier, seen activities directed at Swedish citizens, for example attempts to use agents to plan assassination attempts against Swedish citizens of Jewish descent, which were revealed a few months ago,” he added.

“So we’re fully aware of what’s going on here.”

Billström did not rule out the possibility of further sanctions against Iran.

“I’m not ruling anything out at this point. The most important thing is that we have a discussion about how serious this threat is.”

He did not wish to comment on how Iran’s actions in Sweden should be defined, but he did say that states have “no right” to act against Swedish interests on Swedish soil.

“State actors have no right to do this. If they do, firstly the acts committed by these gangs are criminal, and secondly it’s a question of relations between us and the state, in this case Iran.”

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