The man in question has been employed by the Armed Forces and is registered with a newly started cybersecurity company. He is a man in his 30s who has been investigated by the Security Service for a long time. He was arrested on Sunday and remanded in custody on Wednesday.
A typical spy is someone who, through their profession, has access to sensitive information.
They either self-recruit by seeking out foreign powers and offering information, or they are sought out and processed by foreign powers. Employees of the Armed Forces are a typical category of interest, says Tony Ingesson, a researcher in intelligence analysis at Lund University.
“Acting out of self-interest”
The driving force can be, for example, ideology, coercion or money.
Most act out of self-interest, driven by a combination of personality traits and triggers. Self-interested spies are often ruthless individuals with a lack of foresight who overestimate their own abilities.
It is not known who the man in the current case is suspected of spying for. But generally it is Russia, Iran and China that - with different motives - are conducting espionage against Sweden, according to Tony Ingesson.
Iran and China are more narrowly interested in technological development and political influence. Russia's interest is broader, focusing on Sweden's military planning, technology and capabilities.
Russia always has a war plan against Sweden, just in case. Russia also has interests that have become relevant in connection with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine - interests in relation to Swedish military support to Ukraine and what is usually called hybrid warfare.
Hard-to-prove crime
The number of espionage cases in Sweden that have reached trial is quite small. But Tony Ingesson points out that it is a complex, time-consuming and difficult-to-prove crime to investigate.
There is always a trade-off when arresting someone. How long should the act be allowed to continue in order to secure enough evidence, and when should one intervene to stop the damage?
Sometimes Sweden has also used other methods to stop espionage.
The traditional solution is that an intelligence officer at an embassy is expelled, then the recruited person loses their contact person.
According to the law, espionage is the intentional transfer, transmission or disclosure of secrets - for example, defense matters - to a foreign power. The information, "the disclosure of which to a foreign power could harm Sweden's security", does not have to be true.
The penalty for ordinary espionage is a maximum of six years in prison, while aggravated espionage carries a prison sentence of between four and eighteen years or life.
If there is no intention to help a foreign power, the crime is instead unauthorized employment with a secret mission.
Source: Criminal Code
