Stockholm District Court has convicted activist Jonatan Alfvén of aggravated defamation after he posted the names, photographs and home towns of five men already convicted of sexual offences, including crimes against children.
The court found him guilty on six counts. The penalty is a suspended sentence and day-fines. He must also pay 70,000 kronor (€6,319) in damages to each of the five complainants, 350,000 kronor (€31,594) in total.
Aggravated defamation carries a maximum of two years in prison. The court said the posts had spread so widely that they could not be regarded as justifiable.
Alfvén, 34 and from Stockholm, has for several years run a Facebook page on which he writes about sex-crime cases. He had published separate Facebook posts setting out details drawn from the judgments, together with identifying information.
Prosecutors argued the dissemination was “liable to cause serious harm”.
Swedish law treats as defamation the pointing out of a person as a criminal even when the underlying facts are true, unless the publication is held to be justifiable in the circumstances.
Outside court Alfvén said a guilty verdict had been expected given the statute, but called the damages “utterly horrific”. He told Sveriges Television he wanted legislation of the kind found in Norway and Denmark, where the truth of a statement is taken into account.
“Is this not insane?” he asked at a press conference, adding: “To all the dedicated people out there: Do not give an inch.”
More than 100 supporters attended the opening of the main hearing on August 19, 2026, filling the courtroom and an overflow room set up with a video link, TV4 reported.
Counsel for the complainants, Thommy Södergård, told the court the posts had been shared thousands of times and had attracted comments threatening his clients. He said leaflets carrying their photographs had been handed out in the streets where they live.
The Sweden Democrats have publicly backed Alfvén. Deputy leader Henrik Vinge said he had “tried to protect children”, according to Aftonbladet.
On August 17, 2026 Alfvén and his wife Michaela Jogerup handed 22,553 signatures for a new defamation law to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and justice minister Gunnar Strömmer.
After the meeting Kristersson wrote on Facebook: “We cannot of course comment on an ongoing legal process, but the question of defamation engages people on good grounds. The Moderates believe one ought to be able to warn one’s neighbours if a convicted paedophile moves into the area, and to warn about dangerous rapists. We stand on the side of crime victims.”
Strömmer said in a government statement: “It is not reasonable that you should be convicted of defamation if, for example, you warn your neighbours about a convicted rapist or paedophile who moves into the area. Speech should not be freer for the person who harasses than for the person who warns. People who in a reasonable way want to look after one another and contribute to safety in our society should not be punished for it.”
That statement accompanied the appointment, the same day, of a parliamentary committee drawn from all Riksdag parties and chaired by Chancellor of Justice Thomas Bull. The government has appointed a committee to review the statute. Its remit includes whether people who warn others about the risk of serious sexual abuse, on the basis of well-founded information, should have stronger protection against defamation convictions, and whether conduct can amount to defamation when what is said is true.
The government had been moving the other way until this year. A referral to the Council on Legislation proposed removing fines from the sentencing range for aggravated defamation, which would have made prison the minimum penalty. The governing parties agreed on February 17, 2026 not to proceed with it, Dagens Arena reported.
The ruling sits in a line of Swedish cases in which naming sexual offenders online has led to criminal liability for the speaker rather than further consequences for the convicted men. Licensed news sites, which hold a publishing certificate, enjoy a wider public-interest defence than private Facebook accounts.
Salwan Momika, an Iraqi refugee in Sweden who became world-famous after carrying out several Quran burnings, has been shot dead. https://t.co/sxxFFNa9Se
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 30, 2025
