A Swedish court on Friday found a man guilty of spying for China by gathering information on Tibetans who had fled to Sweden, sentencing him to 22 months in jail.
The Sodertorn District Court, near Stockholm, convicted Dorjee Gyantsan, a 49-year old Tibetan who worked for a pro-Tibetan radio station, of “gross illegal intelligence activity” carried out from July 2015 to February last year.
A Swedish Security Service (SAPO) investigation had proven that Gyantsan “several times traveled to Poland to meet a Chinese intelligence officer” and that those meetings were “part of a comprehensive intelligence campaign aimed at people of Tibetan descent,” Judge Daniel Eriksson said.
The information passed on by Gyantsan “may have caused great damage to Tibetans both in Sweden and abroad,” Eriksson added.
Gyantsan was paid for the information that included personal matters, ranging from where people lived and family relations to political activities, trips and meetings, the court said.
Swedish media reported that Gyantsan had received 50,000 kronor (US$5,691) on at least one occasion and had his expenses paid.
His lawyer, Mikael Soderberg, told Sweden’s TT news agency that his client denies any wrongdoing, saying that he did not know that he person he met was an intelligence officer.
He said Gyantsan would appeal.
Gyantsan was arrested on Feb. 26 last year in Sweden by SAPO, which had him on their radar for some time. No further details were provided.
People exposed to this kind of spying “can be deterred from using their democratic rights,” SAPO counterespionage head Daniel Stenling said.
It was “a serious matter” that was solved “thanks to close cooperation with other European police authorities,” he said.
He did not identify any of the cooperation partners.
The verdict came at a time of tense relations between Stockholm and Beijing.
China is holding a Chinese-born Swedish national on suspicion of leaking state secrets and has rebuked Sweden for demanding his release.
Hong Kong-based bookseller Gui Minhai (桂民海), 53, was taken off a train by police in eastern China on Jan. 20, while in the company of two Swedish diplomats with whom he was traveling to Beijing.
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