Former Swedish security adviser on trial for allegedly mislaying classified papers

The Guardian

a day ago

Sweden's former national security adviser has gone on trial for the allegedly negligent handling of classified information, seven months after he resigned amid revelations he had left official documents in a hotel.
Henrik Landerholm, a longstanding friend of the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, appeared on Monday in front of a packed gallery at Attunda district court in Sollentuna, north of Stockholm.
His trial is expected to centre around the events of March 2023 when Landerholm is alleged to have left documents in an unlocked safe at a hotel conference venue. Much of the proceedings will be held behind closed doors due to the information said to be contained in the documents.
One of the witnesses, a member of the military, will reportedly be questioned under a codename during the three-day trial. Witnesses are also expected to include staff at Gällöfsta Kursgård, a conference centre north of Stockholm where the documents were left.
According to the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the papers were found by cleaning staff. At least one, the newspaper reported, was about Sweden's Turkey strategy when it was still waiting to join Nato and a secret meeting with the US.
Landerholm did not respond to DN's request for comment on the content of the documents. A government spokesperson said: 'We will not go into the content of the forgotten documents.'
The revelation was not the first to befall Landerholm, who had been appointed to the role in autumn 2022. He left a notebook behind at the Swedish national broadcaster, Sveriges Radio, after an interview in January 2023, and left his phone – reportedly overnight – at the Hungarian embassy after a dinner at the end of 2022.
Landerholm announced his resignation in January after police opened an investigation into the hotel incident. 'I have been informed that a preliminary investigation has been opened into the incident with the documents forgotten at the hotel conference centre,' Landerholm said at the time.
'I have informed the prime minister of this and we have agreed that under the circumstances I can no longer fulfil my work obligations and that is why I'm leaving my position as national security adviser.'
If found guilty, Landerholm, who was charged with negligence with classified information in March 2025, could be fined or imprisoned for up to one year.
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He denies any wrongdoing. His lawyer, Johan Eriksson, has said the information did not pose a risk to national security in the way that prosecutors have claimed and that Landerholm's actions did not constitute a crime.
Prosecutors said in their motion: 'When we say sensitive information, the court will soon understand exactly what we mean and that the expression does not contain any exaggerations.'