Former Swedish intelligence officer jailed for life for spying for Russia - The Guardian

A tribunal successful Stockholm has sentenced a erstwhile Swedish quality serviceman to beingness imprisonment and his younger member to 10 years aft uncovering some blameworthy of spying for Russia’s subject quality work for much than a decade.

Peyman Kia, 42, served successful the Swedish information and counter-intelligence service, Säpo, and successful equipped forces quality agencies, including the overseas quality bureau (Must) and KSI, a top-secret portion dealing with Swedish spies abroad.

He was recovered blameworthy of aggravated espionage and unauthorised handling of classified documents. The judge, Måns Wigén, said Kia had abused the spot placed successful him successful bid to assistance Russia, the state posing “the biggest menace to Sweden”.

His member Payam, 35, was convicted of aggravated espionage for readying the transgression and managing contacts with Russia’s GRU subject quality agency, passing connected 45 of the 90 documents Peyman was recovered to person gathered.

The tribunal said they had “jointly and successful concertation, without authorisation and to assistance Russia and the GRU, acquired, forwarded and shared accusation whose disclosure to a overseas powerfulness could beryllium detrimental to Sweden’s security”.

The Iranian-born brothers, some of whom clasp Swedish citizenship, person denied the charges and are expected to entreaty against them. They were arrested successful 2021 erstwhile Säpo suspected it had a mole and accused them of having spied for Moscow since 2011.

Much of the evidence, tribunal hearing, and afloat determination was not made nationalist for nationalist information reasons, and the tribunal conceded that contempt grounds including USB sticks, laptops and mobile phones, “some pieces of the puzzle are missing”.

It recovered that successful 2016-17, Peyman Kia handled currency worthy astir 550,000 kronor (£43,000), astir of it successful US dollars, which it said astir apt represented outgo from Russia.

The verdict followed the spectacular pre-dawn apprehension precocious past year successful a affluent Stockholm suburb of a Russian mates suspected of carrying retired “illegal quality activities” against Sweden and the US – besides for much than 10 years.

The “wholly unremarkable” pair, who person not been formally named by Swedish authorities, reportedly arrived successful Sweden successful 1997, acquired Swedish nationality and ran an IT and communications instrumentality import-export firm.

A Stockholm tribunal ordered the antheral to beryllium held connected suspicion of “aggravated amerciable quality activities against Sweden and a overseas power”, but released his spouse – suspected of being his accomplice – pending inquiries. Both contradict each the allegations.

Swedish media has speculated that the couple’s alleged connections to Moscow’s quality assemblage mean they were astir surely sleeper agents, and the nationalist prosecutor, Henrik Olin, has said the hubby was “linked to the GRU”.