He has previously belonged to the Social Democrats and the Sweden Democrats, as well as running for the European Parliament with the June List. After being an independent politician, he is now running for the Citizens’ Coalition but is simultaneously being charged with sexual harassment.

It was in August 2025 that Peter Lilja left the Sweden Democrats.

– There are internal disputes and dirty games within the party. But our elected representatives and members in Fagersta, they are above reproach, he told Fagersta-Posten at the time.

The incident for which Lilja is now being charged occurred in June last year, before he left SD. During a meeting, he is alleged to have stroked a woman along her back and then kept his hand on her buttocks. The woman’s version of events is supported by a witness who saw what happened.

– It’s not that he pinches me, but I feel that he shapes his hand. And he keeps walking past while he has his hand on my butt. And I just freeze. That’s not what you expect yourself to do. But I just do it because I don’t know what else to do, the woman said in an interview.

Denies the Crime

Lilja himself denies any wrongdoing and claims he did not do what the woman alleges. He also claims he is the target of a “dirty game” intended to get him to leave politics. Lilja has filed a separate police complaint for false accusation, but it was dismissed.

In interviews, Lilja says he has no “interest whatsoever in [the woman] or any part of her” and that she “does not attract me at all.” He also emphasizes that the woman “on several occasions at regional council meetings has come up to me and hugged / made advances / harassed me” and “when we’ve spoken has repeatedly run her hand / groped / fiddled over and after my arm.”

Furthermore, Lilja argues that the woman going to see a psychologist is not because of him but because her husband left her and moved in with another man.

– I categorically deny the allegations, my conscience is clear, Peter Lilja told the state television.

Receives Support

Peter Lilja is receiving support from a former political colleague.

– As I understand it, the image that is being put forward is not entirely consistent with the picture I have received. And I am completely convinced that the things Peter is accused of, he did not do. That’s not Peter. That’s not the Peter I know. It’s so foreign, the man said in an interview.

– And I have seen how [the woman] has acted, for example, at the regional council, where she happily hugs other people. I have seen her hug Peter. It’s obvious that she is the initiator. How she has stroked his arm and things like that. This is something that should reasonably exist on recorded video material.

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