Between 2014 and 2015, Peyman Kia labored for Sweden’s home intelligence company but additionally for the nation’s armed forces. Swedish prosecutors allege that the info they gave the Russians originated from a number of authorities throughout the Swedish safety and intelligence service, identified by its acronym SAPO.
Swedish media reported that Peyman Kia labored for the armed forces’ international protection intelligence company, identified in Sweden by its acronym MUST, and labored with a prime secret unit throughout the company that handled Swedish spies overseas.
Intelligence knowledgeable Joakim von Braun informed Swedish broadcaster SVT that regardless that many particulars stay unknown, it seemed to be considered one of most damaging instances of espionage in Sweden’s historical past as a result of the lads compiled a listing of all the workers inside SAPO.
“That alone is a giant downside as a result of Russian intelligence focuses on human sources,” von Braun mentioned.
“The fabric is absolutely the most secret materials obtainable,” prosecutor Mats Ljungqvist informed the courtroom. “It’s an uncommon trial in {that a} comparable case has not appeared in Sweden in over 20 years.”
One in every of Sweden’s largest spy scandals happened throughout the Chilly Conflict when Stig Bergling, a Swedish safety officer who labored for each SAPO and the armed forces, bought secrets and techniques to the Soviet Union. He was sentenced in 1979 to life imprisonment on comparable prices and later escaped whereas serving his time, returned voluntarily to Sweden in 1994. He died in his native nation in January 2015.
Peyman Kia was arrested in September 2021 and his brother in November 2021. Each denied any wrongdoing, their protection legal professionals informed the courtroom.
Payam Kia, 35, helped his brother and “dismantled and broke a tough drive which was later present in a trash can” when his brother was arrested, in accordance with the cost sheet obtained by The Related Press.
The naturalized Swedish residents face sentences as much as life imprisonment if convicted.
In a separate, unrelated case, Swedish authorities on Thursday launched considered one of two folks arrested this week on suspicion of spying in opposition to Sweden and one other, unnamed international energy.
The launched particular person stays a suspect and authorities didn’t clarify why the opposite individual was saved in custody.
The 2 have been arrested Tuesday in a predawn operation within the Stockholm space. Authorities have given few particulars in regards to the case, however Swedish media cited witnesses who described elite police rappelling from two Black Hawk helicopters to arrest them.
In accordance with Swedish reviews, the 2 are a pair and are each Russians who arrived in Sweden within the late Nineteen Nineties. The AP couldn’t independently affirm these reviews.
