Ombudsman's criticism of prosecutors who released photos to “Wanted”

Published 13 December 2024 at 09.07

Domestic. Last year, TV3's “Efterlyst” published the names and pictures of two criminal suspects – and hours later, a relative of one of the suspects was shot to death. Now the JO states that there was no legal support for the prosecutor to release the information to the program and criticizes her for the action.

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– The prosecutor released classified information without there being legal support for it. Therefore, she deserves criticism. She is also criticized for not making a sufficiently thorough and comprehensive assessment before allowing the names and pictures of the suspects to be published on television and for not documenting her considerations. I take the incident seriously, says JO Per Lennerbrant.

Because it can have negative and hard-to-foresee consequences to allow information about suspects to be published in a television program, such a decision, according to JO, requires a careful assessment.< /p>

In the investigation, it has been difficult to review what considerations the prosecutor made because it has not been documented nor reported to JO.

– The prosecutor's information has been scanty and The public prosecutor's office has done nothing to supplement the documentation in my case. The authority has not lived up to the constitutional requirement to participate in a JO investigation. I am critical of that, says JO Per Lennerbrant in a statement.

A few hours after the television broadcast, a relative of one of the suspects was shot dead in his home. JO has not taken a position on whether there was a causal connection between the publication and the shooting death. That issue has been tried by a prosecutor after a police report.

The TV program is not covered by the JO's supervision. The review has therefore not intended the publication as such.