The preliminary investigation into suspected election fraud in Borlänge was dropped just days before the election after prosecutor Oskar Edvardsson assessed that further investigation would not change the evidence situation. Now the investigation has been reopened, three people are suspected, and the National Operations Department (Noa) has taken over from the local police. At the same time, a police source tells Samnytt that there has been significant irritation within the police authority regarding how the case was handled.
– Then, when it affects the election, he reopens the case and has three suspects. What a legal scandal, says the police source.
The police began showing interest in suspected election fraud in Borlänge already during early voting. After an anonymous tip, surveillance was initiated on certain individuals, and on September 1, the material was presented to the National Anti-Corruption Unit at the Prosecutor’s Office.
A preliminary investigation into improper influence during voting was initiated. According to information that later became public, police, among other things, followed vehicles transporting voters to and from polling stations.
Reporting has also included information about pre-marked ballots and documented cash withdrawals.
The investigation has been linked to the Left Party’s Somali candidate Mohamed Abdukardir Ali’s election campaign. Ali was elected to the legislature with 648 personal votes. Also, his party colleague Ahmed Abas Omar, who was elected into the municipal council.
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Both have denied being involved in election fraud and have not been named as suspects. At the same time, both have taken a time out from politics.
Case Dropped Before the Election
On September 8, prosecutor Oskar Edvardsson decided to drop the police’s preliminary investigation against the men in Borlänge. Samnytt has, through a police source, gained access to the content of the decision, which the Prosecutor’s Office has declined to release to the newspaper.
The decision is justified on the grounds that the existing investigative material was not considered sufficient to prove a crime and that, in the prosecutor’s assessment, further investigation could not be expected to change the evidentiary situation in any significant way.
Additionally, it was stated that it was not possible to prove the objective conditions required for the act to be criminal.
They see Mohamed handing out ballots to a person. They stop that person, who is found with hundreds of pre-marked ballots in Mohamed’s name. What more is needed for reasonable suspicion against Mohamed?
Samnytt’s anonymous police source
The contents are consistent with the wording in the decision that Aftonbladet later published after reviewing the document.
According to Samnytt’s police source, investigative officers had a very different view.
The source states that after the decision to drop the case, there was “a very irritated mood” within the police. According to the source, the investigators considered there to be grounds for suspicion and also that there was reason to take further investigative measures.
– They saw Mohamed handing out ballots to a person. They stopped that person, who was found with hundreds of pre-marked ballots in Mohamed’s name.
– What more is needed for reasonable suspicion against Mohamed?
– Prosecutor Oskar Edvardsson had it all served up. But he did not consider Mohamed even reasonably suspected. They could have obtained bank records, checked surveillance cameras, and checked ATM data, but nothing was done because Mohamed was not considered a suspect, even though this concerned a political candidate and took place shortly before the election.
The information about police dissatisfaction is supported by other reporting in establishment media. According to DN and Sveriges Radio, frustration arose among police in the Bergslagen region when the preliminary investigation was dropped.
The police reportedly wanted to search a car that had been under surveillance to look for pre-marked ballots, but Edvardsson is said to have declined.
“Hard to Reach the Prosecutor”
Samnytt’s source also claims that the Bergslagen police region documented difficulties in contacting Edvardsson during work on the case.
According to the source, officers working on the investigation felt the prosecutor was not particularly interested in pursuing the case. The source delivers sharp criticism:
– Independence of political stance. If we cannot have civil servants who are independent in their legal assessments to ensure democracy, then we are in trouble.
Within the police, according to the same source, there is also a rumor that the Prosecutor’s Office’s decision to drop the case was based on an assessment that the suspected election fraud in Borlänge would not impact the election outcome.
– Then, when it affects the election, he reopens the case and has three suspects. What a legal scandal, says the police source.
Samnytt’s police source says:
– There were great difficulties in reaching prosecutor Edvardsson and they had to turn to an on-call prosecutor for a decision. The person continues:
– Given that there were no suspects in the case and its difficulty, I understand why the on-call prosecutor decided against conducting a search. Now that Noa has taken over the investigation one hopes that prosecutor Edvardsson will be available to them. For now, it seems Edvardsson does see a crime in everything that happened since they’ve started financial mapping of the three individuals and must therefore consider them suspects.
The person concludes:
– A financial mapping of the individuals was something investigators wanted to do early on, but prosecutor Edvardsson was not interested.
The Investigation Was Reopened
After the election, the situation suddenly changed when persons of police interest were elected to both parliament and the municipal council.
On September 21, the preliminary investigation was resumed. According to documents reviewed by SVT, “new circumstances” motivated this.
At this stage of the preliminary investigation, there is quite a lot that must be done and so on. So I understand that Oskar also has a lot to do.
Pontus Bergsten, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Deputy Head of Chamber
Prosecutor Edvardsson has not wanted to reveal what those circumstances involve. The records also show that two individuals were already suspects in the initial investigation.
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When the case was reopened, a third person was added. Three people thus appear as suspects, even though none have been formally notified of suspicion. Their identities are confidential.
The police investigation has now been transferred to the National Anti-Corruption Group at the National Operations Department (Noa). According to the police, this is because cases of this type are routinely investigated there. This means a much more extensive police investigation compared to what took place briefly during the election campaign.
Chief Prosecutor Declines to Comment on Criticism
Samnytt has tried for two days to repeatedly reach Oskar Edvardsson to give him a chance to respond to the police’s criticism, contact problems, and the circumstances of the original decision to drop the case. He has not responded or returned any messages.
Samnytt therefore contacted his boss, Pontus Bergsten, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Deputy Head of Chamber at the National Anti-Corruption Unit.
As Deputy Head of Chamber, how do you respond to the internal police criticism about how the prosecution side handled the first investigation?
– I have no insight into that.
We have a prosecutor who is independent and makes decisions in his investigation. I am not involved in that either since I am deputy chief at the unit. I should not comment on it right now. I am not handling this case either.
Pontus Bergsten, Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Deputy Head of Chamber
This is a nationally noted case led by your national unit, the original investigation was dropped and later reopened, there are now three suspects, and Noa has taken over the police investigation. Do you mean that as chief you have not been informed about criticism regarding case handling?
– I can state that a preliminary investigation is ongoing. It is the prosecutor handling the case who makes all decisions, and otherwise, I cannot comment since there is preliminary investigation secrecy.
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You are the chief, so you must still be aware of what has happened?
– I cannot comment because the investigation is confidential.
But do you see that rather serious information has emerged?
– We have a prosecutor who is independent and makes decisions in his investigation. I am not involved in that either since I am deputy chief at the unit.
When Samnytt asked about the serious information that has emerged, he did not want to comment further.
– I should not comment on it right now. I am not handling this case either.
Is there anything at all you can comment on the case? After all, there is significant public interest.
– No, since I am not the prosecutor, I cannot comment about it. The prosecutor is responsible for the case.
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“Much That Must Be Done”
Samnytt also told Bergsten that the editorial office had tried to reach Edvardsson both Wednesday and Thursday without success, and pointed out that part of the police criticism specifically concerned difficulties in contacting the prosecutor.
Bergsten did not defend the handling itself but pointed to the workload in the reopened investigation.
– At this stage of the preliminary investigation, there is quite a lot that must be done and so on. So I understand Oskar also has a lot to do.
Samnytt finally asked whether Bergsten really was not aware of any details of the case.
– No, and I should not be. Investigation secrecy applies to us too, even those of us not handling the case.
On questions such as why an investigation deemed unable to proceed before the election could be reopened soon after, how the prosecution side views the criticism from investigating officers, and whether the contact problems affected the assessment underlying the dismissal decision, Samnytt still has not gotten any answers from the responsible prosecutor or his chief at the Prosecutor’s Office.
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The handling has also been reported to the Parliamentary Ombudsman (JO). In a complaint on September 22, criticism was directed at the prosecution side and the decision-making prosecutor for closing the preliminary investigation despite allegedly extensive police evidence.
The complainant especially highlights that the case was later reopened and that police officers involved were reportedly baffled by the closure. He argues that the procedure risked undermining trust in the democratic process.
Mohamed Abdukardir Ali has denied involvement in the suspected election fraud and claims the allegations about him are incorrect. At the same time, the Left Party has announced that Ali is taking a time out and will not serve as a legislator from the beginning of the parliamentary term as long as the investigation is ongoing.
Responds in Press Release
After Samnytt tried to reach Oskar Edvardsson multiple times over two days, the Prosecutor’s Office published a situation report on Thursday afternoon.
There, Edvardsson states that no one has been detained or formally notified of suspicion and that several investigative measures are ongoing. He also rejects the claim that he or any other prosecutor at the national unit declined a vehicle search – a part of the criticism from police sources.
The situation report, however, does not answer Samnytt’s questions about the police criticism, the alleged contact problems, or why police and prosecutors perceived the investigation so differently.
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Neither does it explain how the earlier judgment – that further investigation could not be expected to significantly alter the evidence situation – aligns with the decision to soon thereafter reopen the investigation.
The Prosecutor’s Office also announces that for the time being, the prosecutors are not available to the media and that new information will be released through press releases.
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