Police Refuse to Release Evidence – Perpetrators Could Face Harassment

When freelance journalist Joakim Lamotte covered a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli demonstration at Gustav Adolfs torg in Gothenburg last year, a commotion ensued and Lamotte was assaulted. Despite the police identifying the attackers and robbers, the case was dropped. According to the law, he has the right to obtain the footage showing the assault, but the police refuse with an odd justification.

Lamotte was both assaulted and robbed of his camera equipment and has been trying to obtain the surveillance footage from the incident. One of those who attacked Lamotte was the subsequently expelled Left Party member Kristofer Lundberg.

The decision to drop the investigation against Kristofer Lundberg comes from prosecutor Maria Thorell.

– There are different claims from the suspects that they have committed this act in self-defense, or that it was about apprehending Lamotte, she told Samnytt in January.

– In my assessment, one cannot rule out that it is as they have said. Then I cannot pursue the case, but I have to drop it. Because then I cannot count on a guilty verdict.

Lamotte has continued to fight to obtain the surveillance footage showing the sequence of events, and last week his request to reopen the investigation against Kristofer Lundberg and others was rejected.

This week, the decision regarding the surveillance footage also came. In order to pursue a civil lawsuit to demand compensation for lost and destroyed property from the guilty parties, Lamotte requested the investigation material. This is something that victims in these types of cases are entitled to by law.

However, this request was also denied. In the decision, the police authority’s lawyer Chirin Fahramand writes that although Lamotte has this right according to the law, “there is reason to believe that someone may be at risk of harassment or reprisals if the requested information is disclosed”.

Lamotte appealed the decision to the Administrative Court, where he pointed out that Chirin Fahramand had not presented any justification or any evidence whatsoever for the assumption that those who assaulted and robbed him are at risk of harassment. The response from the Administrative Court was brief: “The Administrative Court rejects the appeal.”

The result of this is that Kristofer Lundberg and the others who attacked me in August last year go completely free. They are spared trial in court, and I will not be able to sue them in a legal process as I am denied, contrary to the law, access to the investigation.

Lamotte also writes that he cannot make any other assessment than that the legal system protects the perpetrators more than the victim. At the same time, he says he is not surprised, as it is not the first time he has witnessed firsthand how legal rot thrives in the Swedish system.

Despite the setbacks, Lamotte will not give up:

I have not let this kind of thing break me before and do not intend to back down now either. I will continue my work with my head held high to expose these kinds of injustices. Even though it sometimes feels futile, it is not possible to give up. I will always continue to scrutinize criminal individuals, corrupt officials, and unjust systems.

Interview with Riks: