A Syrian migrant smuggled into Sweden by a journalist working for Sweden’s national broadcaster has been sentenced in court for knife crimes.
The 20-year-old Syrian was smuggled into Sweden in 2014 by journalist Fredrik Önnevall and three of his colleagues, all of whom worked for Swedish broadcaster SVT.
According to a report from Nyheter Idag, the 20-year-old was arrested last year in April for carrying a knife in central Uppsala and now has been convicted and given a 2,000 Swedish Krona (£173/$209) fine.
Önnevall, who was convicted and sentenced for smuggling the Syrian last year, was allowed to keep his job at SVT, with the company’s HR and Communications Director stating: “SVT agrees with the team that they abandoned their journalistic mission in this case, but they ended up in a difficult situation and acted on humanitarian grounds and not for their own gain.”
Shortly after his conviction, Önnevall told SVT that he had been in contact with the Syrian by phone, and claimed he had a job and was doing schooling.
Other reports championed the migrant’s integration, claiming that he spoke fluent Swedish — but Nyheter Idag claims that he required an interpreter during his trial.
Önnevall is not the only public figure to have attempted to or successfully helped smuggle migrants during the migrant crisis.
In 2017, Swiss left-wing politician Lisa Bosia Mirra was convicted and sentenced to a fine of £7,000 after she helped 24 illegal immigrants to enter and stay in Switzerland. Mirra, along with an accomplice, had trafficked the migrants from Italy across the border.
A year earlier, German Left Party politician Diether Dehm was accused of smuggling an African migrant from Italy into Germany in the back of his car after picking him up near his holiday home in Lake Maggiore.
Despite Dehm admitting to smuggling the migrant, the charges were later dropped by investigators.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.