Sweden detains man spying on Tibetan refugees

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Representational Image.
Representational Image.

(TibetanReview.net, Mar01, 2017) – The Swedish Security Service (Säpo) has on Feb 26 detained a man on suspicion of spying on Tibetan refugees on behalf of another country; however it has not revealed the identity of the man or his employing nation. The man was known to authorities “for several years” and faced charges of “aggravated unlawful intelligence activities,” a statement from Säpo was quoted as saying.

The Säpo statement said “the security service has been able to see over time how the man acted and collected information about the Tibetan group in Sweden,” adding that the information was passed on to “intelligence operatives working for a foreign power.”

Swedish media, thelocal.se, said Feb 27 the man has been detained by the Swedish Prosecution Authority’s National Security Unit, which oversees all investigations being carried out by Säpo, while a number of hearings take place in the coming days to decide the man’s fate.

Säpo has said the arrest was the result of ongoing work against illegal intelligence activities in the Nordic nation.

The only detail provided by the Säpo was through its press head Nina Odermalm Schei who was quoted as saying, “The man has lived in Sweden for several years, and had a mission, as we see it, from a foreign power.”

“In general you can say that the countries which carry out refugee espionage in Sweden are states which do not like both human rights and freedom of speech,” she has added.

Säpo describes refugee espionage as “a method of trying to prevent refugees from expressing criticism towards the regime of the country they have fled from” and that it is “also a way for the regime to try and get control over the people who have fled from their home country, why they did it, and where they now are”.

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