During the summer of 2023, the Government Offices received an anonymous whistleblower report about security problems in parts of the agency, and DN began to unravel the tangle.
The newspaper was in contact with over 200 people and the reporters made more than 50 requests to obtain public documents – but everything was delayed, and it could take weeks to get the material, Wolodarski says.
"The delay was so remarkable that it appeared as if the review was actually being thwarted," writes DN's editor-in-chief in an editorial in the newspaper.
DN then tried a different method – they requested the same documents under the invented name Simon. Nothing was said about Dagens Nyheter.
Took two days
"This time the documents arrived within two days. And they were delivered digitally. For DN's journalists, the corresponding request took between 30 and 46 days. The material was then printed out on paper, not digitally as usual, and had to be picked up during limited opening hours," writes Wolodarski.
He also compares it with previous audits by Säpo, the National Audit Office and the Swedish Transport Agency, where no resistance was encountered.
"But when we examine the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Government Offices in general, there is a constant stalemate on the most basic issues," writes Wolodarski, adding that this has also happened under Social Democratic governments.
Reported to the Ombudsman
DN has reported the late handling to the Ombudsman and has also informed the Chief Legal Officer of the Cabinet Office.
Former national security advisor Henrik Landerholm forgot secret documents in an unlocked safe at a course yard outside Stockholm in March 2023.
Landerholm left his post as national security adviser when the criminal investigation against him began in January of this year. In September, the district court acquitted him of the charge of negligence with classified information. Prosecutors have appealed the verdict.
TT has contacted the Government Offices, which declines to comment on Wolodarski's criticism.
