From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Swedish prosecutor opens inquiry into FM Wallstrom
A Swedish anti-corruption prosecutor has opened an inquiry to determine whether a crime was committed when Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom obtained a Stockholm rental apartment from a union.
“The media has since Friday published reports that representatives for the trade union Kommunal have since late summer 2014 until April 2015 promised and then obtained a rental contract for Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom in one of the union’s buildings in Stockholm,” special prosecutor Alf Johansson at the National Economic Crimes Bureau says in a statement.
The prosecutor says he had “decided to open an inquiry into both the giving and taking of a bribe to determine if a crime has been committed.”
Wallstrom insists she acted in good faith and that she had received guarantees that Kommunal was following the rules. She welcomes the inquiry.
“I welcome an investigation. I have nothing to hide and it is good that this will get sorted out,” she tells news agency TT, adding: “I will continue to do my job.”
The 61-year-old Social Democrat has repeatedly enraged Israel, starting with Sweden’s recognition of a Palestinian state shortly after she became foreign minister in October 2014.
In December, she called on Israel to halt what she called “extrajudicial executions” in response to attacks by knife-wielding Palestinians, following up with a demand this month for “thorough” investigations into the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army.
— with AFP
