Documentary filmmakers filmed the police station in Solna – sentenced

Published 3 October 2024 at 11.37

Law & Justice. Documentary filmmaker Alex Veitch becomes the first journalist to be convicted of “unlawful depiction of protected objects” after the law was changed.

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The district court has concluded that Alex Veitch has photographed and/or filmed the police station in Solna, which is a protected object, and that he has acted negligently. He is sentenced to a day's fine.

The crime was committed in May when Veitch was in Stockholm to record a documentary about the working conditions of migrant workers on a cruise ship.

Since January 1, 2023, new provisions in the Freedom of the Press Ordinance and the Freedom of Expression Act, which mean that violations of the Protection Act's ban on images are excluded from the scope of application of the Act. This means that the depiction of protected objects is punishable even if the depiction is carried out by journalists for journalistic purposes.