Six months in prison. That is what prosecutor Magdalena Petersson is demanding as a sentence for Christian Sonesson (M), chairman of the municipal executive board in Staffanstorp. The reason is that in the spring of 2022, Staffanstorp refused to accept migrants from Syria and Congo.
The final day of the trial was held on Thursday at Lund District Court, where Sonesson and five other politicians have been charged with gross misconduct in office. In her closing argument, prosecutor Magdalena Petersson requested that the top Moderate politician should spend half a year behind bars.
ALSO READ: Refused to accept Syrians – now six politicians in Staffanstorp are being prosecuted
– I believe he understood that the proposal and decision would affect the four plaintiffs in the case, she said.
Prioritized Ukrainian Refugees
In the spring of 2022, Sonesson and five other members of the Staffanstorp municipal executive board; Åsa Ekstrand (M), Margareta Pauli (M), Eric Tabich (M), Toni Nilsson (SD), and Yvonne Nilsson (C); decided to prioritize the refugees who were then arriving from Ukraine.
READ MORE: Staffanstorp’s Congo ‘No’ – “We prioritize the Ukrainian refugees”
Around 80 Ukrainians arrived in the municipality during the first three months of the Russian invasion of their homeland. This led the politicians to notify the Migration Agency that they did not intend to accept the 36 so-called quota refugees that the municipality had been assigned.
The decision affected four quota refugees from Syria and six from Congo. The four affected Syrians, a Syrian family, later chose to pursue legal action against the municipality that refused to provide them with free housing and benefits.
– I was very affected by this, as were my husband and my son, but I still suffer from this today. I cried a lot. I suffered both physically and mentally from this, the mother of the family has previously said.
ALSO READ: Syrians were not allowed to come to Staffanstorp: “I still suffer today”
Chose to Back Down
But for a municipality to refuse to accept migrants in this way is illegal, claims the prosecutor, which is why she wants to see the six responsible politicians in prison.
Sonesson has previously criticized the fact that he is being prosecuted in a criminal court for a politically made decision. He argues that such a decision should, in that case, be tried in an administrative court.
“Unfortunately, it seems to be a :censored:6:cdd6bbaa89: trend to try to convict elected officials in general courts,” he has previously written in a post on Facebook.
Christian Sonesson and the municipality of Staffanstorp chose, after a few weeks, to give in and began accepting quota refugees again. However, this did not stop the legal process against him.