Diplomat detained for espionage found dead

It is a case that is causing controversy in Sweden and the plot seems to have come straight out of a thriller. A diplomat who had worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for decades was found dead this Friday. This man, aged around 50 (his identity has not been released), had been arrested last weekend in an operation carried out by Säpo, the Swedish secret service, but was released on bail on Tuesday.

The death was confirmed to Reuters by the diplomat's lawyer, Anton Strand: "I heard the tragic news this morning and my thoughts are with the family." A little later, the Swedish Foreign Ministry also issued a statement expressing its condolences: "We confirm that an employee of the diplomatic service has died. Our concern for the family prevents us from giving any further details."

At the moment, according to Swedish state broadcaster SVT, the police are investigating the details of the diplomat's death. According to preliminary information gathered by the television station, there is no sign of foul play so far. At the Foreign Ministry, however, there is a sense of shock. "It's terrible. People are crying. It's hard to accept," a source from the Stockholm diplomatic service told SVT.

The shock was even greater due to the sequence of events leading up to the diplomat's death. Over the weekend, the man was detained by the secret services in his apartment in Stockholm. His arrest was, in fact, the target of much criticism by his lawyer due to the violence of Säpo. Speaking to the newspaper Expressen , he reported that the secret services found an “innocent person, without a violent past, a middle-aged academic”.

“They didn’t even try to knock on the evidence. It was a horrible experience,” the lawyer continued, indicating that the door was broken down. After his arrest, the diplomat was left with bruises and received hospital care, says Anton Strand. For their part, the secret services reject this hypothesis and claim that they used force proportionately.

The diplomat was released on bail on Tuesday, although Swedish authorities had kept him under surveillance. In fact, prosecutor Per Lindqvist said that the investigation into the espionage allegations will continue, even after his death. “There were suspicions and there are ongoing suspicions. The preliminary investigation has not been completed,” the legal officer said in an interview with SVT.

The Swedish secret services are also saying, according to the Swedish media , that the suspicions of espionage against the diplomat are related to another scandal. Appointed national security adviser last week, Tobias Thyberg resigned 24 hours after taking office, after compromising photos of him were made public on a former account on the dating app, Grindr.

It is still unclear, however, what the link is between Tobias Thyberg's resignation and the arrest and subsequent death of the diplomat, who died in the early hours of Friday. He had worked outside Europe for several years — and had previously been an ambassador, according to Expressen , which also adds that one of the countries where he worked has a tense relationship with the West.