Samnytt appeals the prison sentence to the High Court

Published 25 November 2024 at 14.56

Media. Samnytt's responsible publisher, Mats Dagerlind, is appealing to the Supreme Court after being sentenced to prison by the Court of Appeal for defaming the so-called Nähatsgranskaren. Dagerlind announces this in an editorial.

Share the article

TwittraShare

Samnytt's responsible publisher, Mats Dagerlind, was sentenced by the district court to one month in prison and almost 200,000 kroner in damages plus court costs after publications concerning Nähatsgranskaren Tomas Åberg.

The defamation verdict, which was recently confirmed by the Svea Court of Appeal, has now been appealed to the Supreme Court. According to Samnytt, the case fundamentally raises important questions about freedom of expression and the definition of “public figure.”

In the civil defamation case, Dagerlind was acquitted on 10 out of 13 charges. Despite this, the Court of Appeal sentenced him to pay the full court costs and prison terms for the counts he was convicted of. Samnytt criticizes the Court of Appeal's assessment and argues in the appeal that it should be consistent and fair that the points where Dagerlind was acquitted also affect the allocation of costs.

Another issue raised in the appeal concerns whether Tomas Åberg should be considered a public figure. Dagerlind believes that Åberg, through his involvement in the Nähatsgranskaren, has actively sought out the public and therefore must withstand a more thorough scrutiny by the media. HD is asked to provide guidance on the matter to clarify when the media have the right to report on people with connections to public activities.

Samnytt also criticizes Swedish defamation legislation and believes that it is unpredictable, which makes it difficult for journalists to know what is allowed to be published.

“The prison sentence against Samnytt places Sweden in the same league in the area of ​​press freedom as Russia and Belarus, as our journalist Mattias Albinsson wrote after the verdict,” writes Mats Dagerlind.

Samnytt collected money from readers to cover the costs of the process, and now thanks readers for their support.