A Swedish diplomat arrested over the weekend in Stockholm on charges of spying and released days later has been found dead, media reported Friday, with the foreign ministry confirming an employee had died.
The Swedish Security Service (Sapo) on Monday announced the arrest, but gave no details about the case or the suspect’s identity.
The following day, broadcaster SVT said the man arrested was a top diplomat. On Wednesday, prosecutors released him from custody but said that he was still a suspect.
“We regret to confirm that a member of the foreign service has died,” the foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP on Friday.
“Out of consideration for the next of kin, we will not go into further details.”
Newspaper Expressen reported that the man who had been found dead overnight was the one detained suspected of spying.
Stockholm police told AFP they had opened an investigation into a death but that there was no suspicion of a crime.
Police declined to confirm whether it was the same person who had been arrested for spying, noting that the investigation was being handled by Sapo.
Sapo press spokesman Gabriel Wernstedt told AFP the “investigation concerning suspected spying continued, even though the suspect can no longer be investigated.
Anton Strand, the suspect’s lawyer, told AFP this week that his client had denied the allegations against him and maintained “that he has done nothing wrong”.
Strand also said his client had gone to a hospital after being released Wednesday and had reported police for using excessive force during his arrest.
He did not provide details about the extent of the injuries.
SVT also reported this week that Sapo was investigating whether the case was connected to a scandal that hit Swedish national security advisor Tobias Thyberg.
He resigned within hours of his May 8 appointment after “sensitive” photos of him from dating app Grindr were sent anonymously to media and the government.
SVT, which has not specified its sources, said the diplomat arrested was not Thyberg, who served as Sweden’s ambassador to Ukraine and Afghanistan among other positions over a 24-year career.
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