Swedish security police arrests two suspected of unauthorized possession of secret information

HELSINKI (AP) — The Swedish security police arrested Tuesday two people suspected of gross unauthorized possession of secret information following an early morning police raid where several houses were searched in the greater Stockholm area.

Sweden’s SAPO domestic security agency said in a statement the suspects are now being questioned. It declined to give details on the case or say whether they were Swedish citizens or foreign nationals.

“It was an operation that was carried out calmly and in connection with these arrests. House searches were also carried out in a number of places where seizures have been made,” SAPO spokesman Fredrik Hultgren-Friberg told Swedish public broadcaster SVT.

According to the security agency, Tuesday’s raid is not connected to previous cases but is tied to a separate preliminary investigation.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority, in a separate statement, said the case is being handled by SAPO “under the direction of prosecutors from the National Security Unit.”

According to the Swedish criminal code, the crime of gross unauthorized possession of secret information is one against national security. The difference between it and the more serious crime of espionage is that the latter occurs with the intention of giving the information to a foreign power.

Swedish prosecutors will decide whether to detain or release the suspects by midday Friday.