Sweden accuses man of spying on exiled Uyghurs for China
A Swedish prosecutor on Wednesday accused a man detained this weekend of spying on exiled members of China's minority Uyghur community for Beijing.
Advertisement
At a court hearing in Solna, north of Stockholm, later Wednesday, he will ask for the suspect to be taken into custody for aggravated spying.
"The man is suspected of having illegally gathered information and intelligence on people from the Uyghur community for the Chinese intelligence services," said prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist.
"The case is very sensitive and is at a preliminary stage of investigation. For this reason, I cannot provide further information at this point," he added in a statement.
The suspect was detained on Sunday according to court documents obtained by AFP, which gave his date of birth as April 8, 1967 and said that he had needed a Mandarin interpreter.
He is accused of spying on refugees, or illegal intelligence-gathering activity against individuals, the statement added.
According to Sweden's SAPO intelligence agency, these offences refer to operations targeting political opponents or other minority groups.
"This type of espionage is often carried out by authoritarian or non-democratic states," the statement added.
Advertisement
The Sunni Muslim Uyghurs are the main ethnic group in China's northwest Xinjiang province.
Beijing is accused of having detained more than a million Uyghurs and other Muslims as part of a campaign the UN has said could constitute "crimes against humanity".
China denies the allegations, saying its actions have allowed it to eradicate extremism in Xinjiang and promote economic development.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Sweden
10 hours ago
- Local Sweden
Sweden's IES language teachers lose contracts after watchdog crackdown
The IES school in Solna, Stockholm. Photo: Janerik Henriksson/TT More than 30 language teachers at the IES school chain have lost their permanent contracts and either been made redundant or moved into other roles after Sweden's Schools Inspectorate criticised the group for its use of teachers without a Swedish certification. Advertisement More than 30 language teachers at the IES school chain have lost their permanent contracts and either been made redundant or moved into other roles after Sweden's Schools Inspectorate slammed the group for its widespread use of unlicensed teachers. Sally Thornton, the vice chair of the IES division at the Swedish Teachers' Union, said that "about 30" teachers were affected, of which a handful had already been made redundant. "IES didn't have the right to give these permanent contracts, so a lot of teachers are feeling depressed and angry because they thought that they were safe, and they weren't," she told The Local. "We've been pushing really hard for some kind of compensation for those who had their permanent contracts torn up, but unfortunately we do not have the law on our side, because the law is that teachers need to be certified." In June 2024, the Schools Inspectorate threatened "thoroughgoing sanctions" on IES's school in Norrtälje if it did not immediately stop using language teachers who lack a Swedish teaching certificate, the latest in a string of cases where the inspectorate has threatened fines over use of unlicensed language teachers. IES makes use of an exception to the rule that teachers need a Swedish teaching licence, or lärarlegitimation. Teachers of maths, science, and aesthetic subjects like art or music, are allowed to teach with teaching qualifications from their home country, allowing the chain to recruit thousands of teachers for these subjects from English-speaking countries. The chain has, however, flouted the rules by also recruiting internationally for teachers of English, French, Spanish, German and other languages, ignoring the fact that teachers of these subjects do require a Swedish license. Advertisement "Since 2022 the School Inspectorate is clear that if we are to be compliant, our international language teachers, who have not yet obtained Swedish teaching credentials, and who cannot be reassigned to other roles or teach other subjects in the school, cannot have permanent employment," Catarina Friborg, the group's head of human resources, told The Local. "We are therefore encouraging all our international teachers to take a Swedish teaching license, and we are offering all our employees the opportunity to study Swedish during working hours," she added. Most of those affected by this year's crackdown, she said, had been given jobs teaching maths, science, and aesthetic subjects, or else moved to teaching fritids, or "after-school care", with only a few made redundant. Thornton said that while the union supports the Schools Inspectorate's position that all teachers should have Swedish qualifications, it believed that IES should have acted sooner. Above all, she said, the chain should have offered the affected teachers the chance to study during work hours for a Swedish license, which among other things, requires proficient (C2-level) Swedish. Advertisement "At every yearly budget meeting for the past few years, we've said, 'we need more resources for our teachers [to get certified]. They have had an online course but very few teachers take it because we have a lot to do. We don't have that much free time." "They have offered days off without pay, but we think, from the union side, that if you bring teachers over here, then you should actually take responsibility for them and help them learn the language."
Local Sweden
3 days ago
- Local Sweden
Inside Sweden: Why we're asking members to help The Local
The Local's editor Emma Löfgren rounds up the biggest stories of the week in our Inside Sweden newsletter. Advertisement Hej, You may have noticed a new message to members from our co-founder, publisher and CEO, James Savage, at the bottom of articles this week. He writes: I would like to thank you for supporting The Local as a member. It's been absolutely crucial of late. But here's the thing: right now, we are facing challenges of a kind we have never experienced in our 21-year history. Global tech giants are eating up a bigger and bigger share of advertising budgets, while making us less and less visible on their platforms. That makes operating as a small player in an already challenging sector even more difficult, especially when costs are rising. Our mission has always been to help people living in another country feel at home, to champion your rights, to keep you in the loop. For us to keep doing that, we need your support. If you are able to support us further, please consider making a donation. You can click here and follow the steps to leave a donation amount that suits you. This will help keep us going and allow us to continue doing the journalism that matters to you. Every word of what James wrote is true. We've had one of our most important news cycles in the past few weeks, being the first and almost only media outlet to cover Sweden's citizenship freeze. But journalism costs money, and right now it's hard to break even as a relatively small newsroom in this world of tech giants and far bigger media actors – or even break through the noise of the domestic Swedish-language media. The biggest change in Sweden since the last election has been the government's so-called "migration paradigm shift", which has had a life-changing impact on many foreigners living and working in this country. Advertisement With just over a year to go until the next election – and less than a year until stricter citizenship laws, and possibly stricter work permit conditions, come into force – making sure those affected are actually heard in the public debate is more crucial than ever. I'd like to think we can make an impact together. Thank you for being a member. If you want to help but are not able to make a donation, please tell a friend about us and ask them to become a member. Any help we get can make a huge difference. To us as a media company, as journalists, but also to raising the voices of those who still believe in a hopeful, constructive and international vision for Sweden and the rest of the world. In other news Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who chaired the agency managing adoptions to Sweden some 20 years ago, has said he's not ruling out an apology after an inquiry unveiled widespread abuses spanning several decades. With just over a year to go until Sweden's next election, a key poll suggests that the centre-left Social Democrats may take a decisive leap forward. Sweden's streets are filled with jubilant high school students. Why are they there, and what are they doing? This week's episode of Sweden in Focus Extra for Membership+ subscribers features an interview with Francisca Leonardo, founder of the tour company Xperience Stockholm. I really enjoyed my conversation with her. GAMES: Have you tried The Local's games for Membership+ subscribers yet? We've got a new crossword and word search puzzle out now A new agreement between Sweden and Estonia means that up to 600 criminals convicted in Sweden could serve time in prisons in Estonia, in what Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has described as a "historic" deal. Advertisement Foreign citizens are significantly over-represented in Swedish prisons. Here are some of the rules about how they should be treated. A government-commissioned inquiry this week proposed a series of suggestions that would make it cheaper to travel to Arlanda Airport. And finally, from summer activity tips to rail disruptions, here's everything you need to know about travelling in Sweden this summer. Have a good weekend, Emma Löfgren Editor, The Local Sweden Inside Sweden is our weekly newsletter for members which gives you news, analysis and, sometimes, takes you behind the scenes at The Local. It's published each Saturday and with Membership+ you can also receive it directly to your inbox.
Local Sweden
4 days ago
- Local Sweden
Sweden's Constitution Committee criticises government for citizenship slowdown
KU, the Swedish parliament's constitution committee, has criticised the leaders of all three government parties for writing an article in a Swedish newspaper calling for a slowdown or stop in granting Swedish citizenship applications. Advertisement On November 29th, the three governing parties of Sweden's right-wing coalition and the Sweden Democrats published an opinion piece in the Dagens Nyheter newspaper titled 'It should be harder to become a Swedish citizen'. The parties pledged in the article to 'as much as possible, take measures to stop more Swedish citizenships from being granted until new rules are in place', hinting that they would take steps to get the Migration Agency to slow down the processing of citizenship applications. They did not explicitly say how they would do so, but the government did in January order the Migration Agency to make extra efforts to identify potential security threats in citizenship cases. These security checks, which came into force on April 1st, led to a near two-month freeze in citizenship applications this spring, and have slowed down the process of issuing new citizenships by forcing all applicants to attend in-person ID checks before their applications can be granted. READ ALSO: The Green Party reported the government to the Constitution Committee for ministerstyre or ministerial governance ‒ essentially, individual ministers trying to influence or meddle in the affairs of a public agency. Advertisement
