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CRIME

Swedish MEP comes forward as accuser in Christian Democrat ‘me-too’ case

Sara Skyttedal, a leading Christian Democrat MEP, has come forward as the woman who reported party secretary Johan Ingerö to the police, leading to his sudden dismissal on Tuesday.

Published: 15 March 2023 09:34 CET
Swedish MEP comes forward as accuser in Christian Democrat 'me-too' case
File photo of Sara Skyttedal in the EU parliament. Photo: Fredrik Persson/TT

Johan Ingerö, the Christian Democrat policy advisor who helped develop its harder, more populist approach, was dismissed on Tuesday after Skyttedal reported him to the police for a sexual crime at a post-election party in May 2014. 

“I have not yet seen the [police] report, but from the little information I have received, I know which occasion it concerns and that what is being claimed is not true,” Ingerö said in a Facebook post explaining why he had had to leave. “Whatever the facts, the judgement has been taken that I can no longer carry out my duties as party secretary. It is of course a great sorrow to leave in this way.”

Skyttedal, who was the leader of the Christian Democrats’ youth wing, the KDU, at the time of the alleged incident, followed up with her own Facebook post on Tuesday evening.

“Eight years ago, a party colleague decided, against my will, to try and lay claim to my body. For all these years I have been silent. Tried to suppress what happened,” she wrote in a Facebook post which has since been removed following a large volume of hateful comments.

“I wish I’d said something earlier and feel ashamed that I did not act more powerfully in that moment.”

“That is why the other week, I decided to report the event to the police. The process will play out in the legal system and I will sadly be limited on how much I can comment in future.” 

Skyttedal further explained the background behind why she chose to report the incident now, eight years later.

“A few weeks ago the man crossed a line again, and that was the last straw,” she explained. “A professional line, not even close to the line crossed eight years ago. But something snapped. He, of all people, did not have the right to treat me badly again.”

It is not yet clear which specific crime or crimes Ingerö has been accused of. If he has been accused of ofredande or sexuellt ofredande (molestation or sexual molestation), the statute of limitations for those specific crimes will have expired and he will not be prosecuted.

The fall-out between Skyttedal and Ingerö may be related to her recent outspoken support of drug reform. 

Skyttedal in December went against Christian Democrat party line and began to campaign for the legalisation of cannabis.

She was then interviewed on SVT’s flagship 30 minuter interview programme about her cannabis use, saying she had taken the drug while sitting as an MEP, but only in countries where using the drug is legal.

Christian Democrat party leader Ebba Busch wrote on the party’s website that she had been informed of the accusations on January 29 and that the party had “handled this according to set procedures”.

“It has been handled with the care it requires. Regardless of the reason for Johan leaving his post, the report raises questions about Johan’s ability to fulfil his fiduciary duties,” she wrote. 

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POLITICS

‘Very little debate’ on consequences of Sweden’s crime and migration clampdown

Sweden’s political leaders are putting the population’s well-being at risk by moving the country in a more authoritarian direction, according to a recent report.

Published: 29 April 2024 08:56 CEST
'Very little debate' on consequences of Sweden's crime and migration clampdown

The Liberties Rule of Law report shows Sweden backsliding across more areas than any other of the 19 European Union member states monitored, fuelling concerns that the country risks breaching its international human rights obligations, the report says.

“We’ve seen this regression in other countries for a number of years, such as Poland and Hungary, but now we see it also in countries like Sweden,” says John Stauffer, legal director of the human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders, which co-authored the Swedish section of the report.

The report, compiled by independent civil liberties groups, examines six common challenges facing European Union member states.

Sweden is shown to be regressing in five of these areas: the justice system, media environment, checks and balances, enabling framework for civil society and systemic human rights issues.

The only area where Sweden has not regressed since 2022 is in its anti-corruption framework, where there has been no movement in either a positive or negative direction.

Source: Liberties Rule of Law report

As politicians scramble to combat an escalation in gang crime, laws are being rushed through with too little consideration for basic rights, according to Civil Rights Defenders.

Stauffer cites Sweden’s new stop-and-search zones as a case in point. From April 25th, police in Sweden can temporarily declare any area a “security zone” if there is deemed to be a risk of shootings or explosive attacks stemming from gang conflicts.

Once an area has received this designation, police will be able to search people and cars in the area without any concrete suspicion.

“This is definitely a piece of legislation where we see that it’s problematic from a human rights perspective,” says Stauffer, adding that it “will result in ethnic profiling and discrimination”.

Civil Rights Defenders sought to prevent the new law and will try to challenge it in the courts once it comes into force, Stauffer tells The Local in an interview for the Sweden in Focus Extra podcast. 

He also notes that victims of racial discrimination at the hands of the Swedish authorities had very little chance of getting a fair hearing as actions by the police or judiciary are “not even covered by the Discrimination Act”.

READ ALSO: ‘Civil rights groups in Sweden can fight this government’s repressive proposals’

Stauffer also expresses concerns that an ongoing migration clampdown risks splitting Sweden into a sort of A and B team, where “the government limits access to rights based on your legal basis for being in the country”.

The report says the government’s migration policies take a “divisive ‘us vs them’ approach, which threatens to increase rather than reduce existing social inequalities and exclude certain groups from becoming part of society”.

Proposals such as the introduction of a requirement for civil servants to report undocumented migrants to the authorities would increase societal mistrust and ultimately weaken the rule of law in Sweden, the report says.

The lack of opposition to the kind of surveillance measures that might previously have sparked an outcry is a major concern, says Stauffer.

Politicians’ consistent depiction of Sweden as a country in crisis “affects the public and creates support for these harsh measures”, says Stauffer. “And there is very little talk and debate about the negative consequences.”

Hear John Stauffer from Civil Rights Defender discuss the Liberties Rule of Law report in the The Local’s Sweden in Focus Extra podcast for Membership+ subscribers.

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