Two of them were arrested this afternoon on suspicion, at the probable-cause level, of aggravated sexual assault, aggravated unlawful coercion, unlawful threats and aggravated assault, reports Ekot. The suspected crimes were committed between October 1 and 2.
The third person, who was sought for detention on suspicion of assault and unlawful coercion of the normal degree, will not be detained by the district court and will be released. According to prosecutors, these crimes were committed on several occasions in August, September and October.
All the suspected crimes took place at the school.
The three suspects are all 18-year-old men. They were arrested during a police operation at the school on Thursday and taken into custody the following day. Court documents seen by TT show that the suspected crimes were directed against three minors.
According to information provided to several media outlets, the incidents took place in connection with a “derailed” initiation ritual.
Established power structure
One of the students’ lawyers, Hanna Lindblom, tells Expressen that her client admits to certain circumstances within the framework of what she describes as a “toxic culture” at the school, but denies any wrongdoing.
“At these boarding schools, it’s a very, very toxic culture. A culture that is deeply rooted in the entire system, embedded in the walls and very difficult to wash away,” she says.
In this, as I see it, sick culture, all the boys are victims. Both the boys on the plaintiff side and the defendant side are victims of this culture.
The prosecutor in the case, Lisa dos Santos, also confirms that information has emerged about how older students allegedly controlled and punished younger students.
There is a kind of established power structure at this school, which includes unofficial titles - there is a prefect and a punishment foreman - and it houses a system that in turn includes punishments, she tells Expressen and adds:
As we have seen so far, several of these punishments have been criminal acts.
The King’s School
The school management has not directly commented on the criminal suspicions, but in a press release called the events “extremely serious”, said that teaching is continuing as usual and that the school “is available to the students”.
Sigtunaskolan Humanistiska Läroverket (SSHL) has both boarding and day students. The school is considered one of Sweden’s elite schools, and its former students include King Carl XVI Gustaf, Olof Palme and several members of the Wallenberg family.
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