DEFENDING DEMOCRACY IN EXILE Policy Responses to Transnational Repression According to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, the governments of Russia, China, and Iran actively conduct both traditional and refugee espionage in Sweden. For example, in 2018, a Tibetan man who had arrived in Sweden from Nepal as a refugee in 2002 was convicted of refugee espionage and sentenced to one year and 10 months in prison. An investigation by SÄPO showed that the man had collected information about the family relationships, housing, protest participation, and travel plans of members of the Tibetan community in Sweden and neighboring countries for China’s Ministry of State Security between 2015 and 2017.10 Almost a decade earlier, a different man was convicted of refugee espionage against the Uyghur community in Sweden, also on behalf of Beijing. In that case, the court ruled that the crime was aggravated by the defendant’s attempts to infiltrate the World Uyghur Congress—a well-known international organization of exiled Uyghurs—and collect contact information as well information on the immigration status and political participation of its members.11 In 2019 an Iraqi man was convicted of unlawful intelligence activities in Sweden against Ahvazi Arab refugees from Iran. The man had claimed to be an Arab journalist in order to, over a period of four years, participate in and film gatherings of the diaspora community in Sweden and elsewhere in Europe. The court assessed that his activities “may have caused a large number of opposition Ahvazis or their relatives to be persecuted, seriously injured or killed.” 12 Sweden’s criminal code prohibits obtaining information secretly, fraudulently, or via “improper means” about a person for the benefit of a foreign power. Gaps in prevention Despite official awareness of the threat that authoritarian states pose to individuals and communities in Sweden, gaps in protection and accountability remain. For example, while SÄPO emphasizes its role in preventing and monitoring threats to national security, its level of cooperation or communication with vulnerable groups and the Swedish Police Authority—the ordinary national police force—appears to be low. 4 @FreedomHouse There are few established channels of communication between diasporas and the police. Members of diasporas are most likely to encounter law enforcement authorities through the “dialogue police,” officers who work with organizers of major public events such as demonstrations in order to foster mutual respect.13 There is a dearth of research on the nature of contacts between diaspora communities and the Swedish Police Authority beyond the dialogue police, but existing accounts suggest a reluctance to investigate threats that are not taking place on Swedish soil, such as threatening calls from abroad.14 This is worrying because coercion by proxy— threats against family members in the origin country—and harassment are two key tactics of transnational repression. A member of the Iranian diaspora interviewed for this report confirmed that SÄPO and the Police Authority did not undertake general outreach activities to vulnerable diasporas, though they did occasionally warn prominent activists of possible threats emanating from foreign states. Reflecting on his own experience of being harassed via email and phone calls and reporting this to the Police Authority, the activist noted that the police appeared to take no action beyond recording his complaints. Gaps in accountability Sweden’s mechanisms for punishing acts of extraterritorial violence tend to be aimed at individual perpetrators, foregoing the opportunity to create systematic accountability for transnational repression. In Tumso Abdurakhmanov’s case, for example, the Swedish court acknowledged the extent of the criminal planning that had taken place abroad and with the help of foreign authorities. However, beyond submitting a formal request for legal assistance to Russia, which went unanswered, no punitive actions against the Russian government were taken. Foreign diplomats in Sweden, as elsewhere, are immune from criminal prosecution but can be labeled persona non grata and expelled from the country. According to media reports, at least 10 foreign diplomats were expelled between 1995 and 2009 for engaging in transnational repression by surveilling diaspora communities in Sweden.15 Seventy-five percent of all persona non grata designations in Sweden stem from cases of refugee espionage.16 The Swedish government does not, however, name and shame diplomats for participating in transnational repression, preferring instead to avoid public statements on the reasons behind its decisions to expel them—a practice that has been criticized by some observers as a form of ineffective “silent diplomacy” vis-à-vis authoritarian states.17 #TransnationalRepression