Sweden’s former ambassador to China has been indicted with arbitrariness during negotiations with a foreign power. The prosecutor will be available to the media on telephone this afternoon.

The ambassador is suspected of having acted outside the bounds of the authority granted to her during a meeting on a consular matter regarding the Swedish citizen Gui Minhai who is currently imprisoned in China. At that meeting, the ambassador was in contact with persons representing the interests of the Chinese State.  “An ambassador is the head of a public authority with a far-reaching mandate to represent Sweden; nonetheless, even ambassadors must adhere to certain guidelines and instructions issued by the Government Offices of Sweden and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. In this specific consular matter, she has exceeded her mandate and has therefore rendered herself criminally liable,” says Hans Ihrman, Deputy Chief Public Prosecutor at the National Security Unit. “A charge of arbitrariness during negotiations with a foreign power is unprecedented in modern times,” says Hans Ihrman. An investigation was launched on 14 February 2019 after the Swedish Security Service filed a criminal complaint.   Case number at Stockholm District Court: B 3911-19.   Contact  Deputy Chief Prosecutor Hans Ihrman is available for brief conversations to the media today, Monday, by telephone between 14:00-15:00 on +46 (0)10-562 53 85. The prosecutor will not be available at any other time than that stated above in connection with bringing this prosecution.   Press Service, +46 10 562 50 20