Robert Aschberg's far-left news agency illegal

Published 28 April 2024 at 14.41

Law & Justice. On March 28, the Court of Appeal for upper Norrland banned journalist and multi-millionaire Robert Aschberg's far-left news agency Sirén from using public documents from the court to hang individuals. Now the Administrative Court in Stockholm makes the same assessment – and opens for damages for those who have already been registered.

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The verdict was about Sirén's private criminal register Acta Publica, formerly called Piscatus, which was started by Expo veteran Robert Aschberg and AFA man Martin Fredriksson as well as several employees at the far-left intelligence organization Expo.

The business idea was to offer a larger and more privacy-infringing version of Lexbase, which gives Swedish journalists the opportunity to dig into individuals' private lives.

The register has long been illegal across the EU, as the GDPR states that a full record of criminal convictions may only be kept by one authority. But the Riksdag has time and again followed Aschberg's line and refused to limit the private criminal register in Swedish law.

In March, the Court of Appeal for Upper Norrland found that the ban on private criminal registers still applies in Sweden, because EU law has precedence. In its decision, the Court of Appeal states that Sirén maintains a complete register of convictions and that this is contrary to the GDPR.

In practice, the Court of Appeal's decision means that the so-called privacy­protection­authority IMY will now have to intervene and stop the private criminal register, whether the authority wants it or not.

The decision also means that the watchful hand that the Riksdag so far has held over the left-wing extremists can no longer protect them from legal consequences directly under the GDPR.

Opens to damages
It also means that individuals who have been registered by companies such as Sirén, Verifiera and Lexbase may be entitled to a flat-rate compensation according to GDPR, currently at least SEK 3,000 per person. Something that, taking into account the number of registered users, could mean a threat of bankruptcy for the left-wing extremist activity.

At the same time, the Court of Appeal prohibited Sirén from making available the social security numbers, personal names or addresses of the people who appear in the judgments that are released.

The Court of Appeal also took the opportunity to remind left-wing extremists of what happens if they break the law.

“The Court of Appeal reminds that anyone who violates what is determined in a proviso can be sentenced for breach of the duty of confidentiality. The penalty is a fine and imprisonment for a maximum of two years,” wrote the Court of Appeal in the decision that was sent to Piscatus.

The Court of Appeal ruling has now caused the Administrative Court in Stockholm to do the same, with reference to the Court of Appeal's new practice.

p>During Wednesday, the administrative court in Stockholm decided that public documents may only be disclosed to the news agencies Vivalto, Sirén, Trobar and Stat och Samhälle with certain reservations, including that the names and addresses of individuals are not disclosed.