Senior Swedish diplomat charged with serious mishandling of classified information

A senior Swedish diplomat in his 60s has been formally charged with serious mishandling of classified information after being arrested last year, SVT Nyheter reports.

The diplomat, who has a long career at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, was detained in May 2025. Prosecutors allege he improperly removed and retained secret documents at his private residence and holiday home.

Senior prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist, leading the investigation, stated that the case involves “information of very high protective value” that the diplomat allegedly took home and kept without authorisation. The documents reportedly relate to “matters of a secret nature” that the diplomat had accessed through previous work duties but later retained for personal use.

“These are documents whose disclosure could harm Sweden’s security if they were to reach a foreign power,” Ljungqvist said in a press statement.

The diplomat’s lawyer, Thomas Olsson, criticised the investigation, telling TV4 that police had conducted “some kind of fishing expedition, taking whatever they could find.”

Initially, authorities also suspected the diplomat of leaking classified information to a representative of a Kurdish organisation, who was arrested the same day. However, that part of the investigation has since been dropped due to lack of evidence.

“I cannot prove when or how the documents were disclosed to the politician,” Ljungqvist said, though he confirmed the material contained classified information.