It was when he was going to swish a friend that Jonathan Ravelin in the autumn of 2023 discovered that he had been incorrectly declared dead.
He was officially dead for a week, but got full control over his economy again only after six weeks.
A year later, he, with the help of the Centre for Justice, sued the state for the Swedish Tax Agency's handling of his personal data.
Jonathan Ravelin demanded in the lawsuit damages of 20,000 kronor. The case has ultimately been to get the authorities to change their routines.
"Strange verdict"
According to the Stockholm District Court, he does not, however, have the right to any damages, neither according to the provisions of the Data Protection Regulation nor through a breach of the European Convention.
It is a strange verdict. According to the court, it was indeed wrong to register him as dead, but the state does not need to be responsible for it, says Alexandra Loyd, who is deputy head of the Centre for Justice.
We will appeal the verdict. We must be able to make higher demands on our authorities than this.
Previous cases
When Jonathan Ravelin was incorrectly declared dead, it had previously happened to several others in the small community of Olofström in Blekinge where he lives. All that was required to get the Swedish Tax Agency to register them as deceased was a form from the National Board of Health and Welfare and a fictitious doctor's signature.
The same thing affects several other Swedes every year. According to the Centre for Justice, the Swedish Tax Agency handled just over a hundred cases between 2021 and 2023 where people were incorrectly registered as deceased in the population register.
