The incident for which Henrik Landerholm is being prosecuted concerns documents with classified information that were left behind in a cabinet at a conference center in the spring of 2023. The documents contained information related to total defense and national security.
Landerholm had previously stated that the documents were left in a locked cabinet. However, according to the indictment, the cabinet was unlocked, writes DN.
According to Dagens Nyheter, which has taken part in the preliminary investigation, the woman who found the documents is no longer in Sweden. Instead, she is said to be in her home country of Georgia – and allegedly received 15,000 kronor "from a person linked to the leadership of a violent Islamist environment" a few months after the discovery. The Security Service (Säpo) has been keeping an eye on the person, who has Russian citizenship.
Landerholm left his position as national security adviser at the end of January. A criminal investigation into gross negligence with classified information had then been initiated.
"Gross negligence"
According to Chief Prosecutor Per Lindqvist, it is serious that the classified information has been accessible to unauthorized persons.
The information has been compromised and there is a possibility that it has been read by persons connected to the violent extremist environment. We claim that this is gross negligence and our opinion is that it falls within the punishable area, he says.
The Security Service does not comment on the investigation, says Security Police Chief Charlotte von Essen at a press conference.
Lawyer Johan Eriksson states that Landerholm denies any wrongdoing.
"He even questions whether what he is accused of is criminalized", Eriksson writes in a written comment to TT.
DN reports that six witnesses will be heard in the trial – three employees at the conference center and three employees at the Government Offices. One of them is the Security Director of the Government Offices.
Forgotten mobile
Landerholm got into trouble in December last year, after DN revealed that he had repeatedly been careless with security.
In addition to the forgotten classified document, he is also said to have forgotten a notebook at Sveriges Radio.
He is also said to have left a mobile phone at the Hungarian embassy in December 2022, and on another occasion lost both his pass card and service card.
Landerholm, who is a childhood friend of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M), was handpicked for the position of security adviser.
The former national security adviser Henrik Landerholm left his position at the end of January after DN revealed that he had repeatedly been careless with documents and papers in 2022-2023.
The most serious offense is considered to be that he left classified material at a conference center.
He left his position after a preliminary investigation into suspected gross negligence with classified information was initiated.
Landerholm was prosecuted today, March 11. According to the indictment, the person who found the forgotten documents can be linked to the violent extremist environment, reports DN.
V, S, MP, and C have filed a parliamentary complaint against the Prime Minister, among other things, for how long it took before the documents became public, for whether Kristersson's friendship with Landerholm influenced the Government Offices not to report the incident to the police, and for how the recruitment of Landerholm was handled.
