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A collective memory loss spread down the hall during the trial against Peter Lundgren of SD.
That was Chief Prosecutor Maria Sterup’s review afterward.
– I don’t think the defendant and plaintiffs are telling the truth when they say they don’t remember this harassment, he says.
In many ways, it was a unique case that was heard in the Jönköping District Court on Wednesday. EU MP Peter Lundgren was charged with suspected sexual harassment by a party colleague, an incident said to have occurred in a hotel room in 2018.
He has admitted in previous interrogations that he took the woman in the breasts and said that she danced defiantly and flirted with him, that since he ended up on his lap and that then he had his hand inside her clothes.
When the SD politician was to be heard in district court, he was much more speechless about the incident. According to Lundgren, he has a hard time remembering what really happened. He says that the period that has passed since the EU elections in 2019 has been very difficult and that it has affected his memory.
– I had a mental breakdown after the EU elections in 2019, only a few months ago I came back and became myself. So I have very vague memories of tonight, Lundgren told the prosecutor.
The applicant also does not recall what happened in the hotel room, other than that she drank a little alcohol and “probably danced and flirted” because she usually does.
– I always flirt, I am such a person, open and cheerful. Now I’m flirting with you too, he told Maria Sterup.
But the plaintiffs don’t recall any harassment from Lundgren, he says.
Photo: Magnus Wennman
Chief prosecutor Maria Sterup sharpened the tone during the trial.
Prosecutor: “Don’t think you are telling the truth”
The woman also denies that she is the one who is heard in the audio recording published by the Expressen newspaper in relation to the knowledge of the alleged abuse.
The plaintiffs have never wanted to participate in the police investigation into the incident. She and Lundgren have previously said the matter is resolved.
– It is the media that want to run this business. If something serious had happened in that room, I would have reacted, but it isn’t.
When it came time for the woman’s husband to testify, he did not recall his wife mentioning that something improper had happened in the hotel room. During police questioning, he had previously said that his wife called home and was upset, but when he was about to tell about the phone call in court, memory failed.
– No, I don’t remember and I don’t want to say anything that goes wrong.
This prompted the chief prosecutor to sharpen his tone.
– It seems that everyone has suffered loss of collective memory. I don’t think you are telling the truth and I want to point out that you are in a very difficult situation because you are now testifying under oath.
The president of the court also explained to the husband that he is obliged to explain what he remembers or thinks he remembers.
But the threat of being investigated for perjury did not make the witness remember much more. He insisted that he only has very vague memories of what his wife told him about the party in the hotel room.
Blame the Green Party
Peter Lundgren wants to claim that he is exposed to a political coup organized by former party colleague Kristina Winberg. She was the one who made the recording where a woman is heard telling about the alleged abuse.
– Kristina Winberg was fourth on the EU election list, if I had been prodded she would have immediately risen to third place, that was her intention with all this, says Peter Lundgren.
Furthermore, Lundgren also believes that the Green Party has tried to profit from the situation.
– It is proven. It was an environmental artist who made a police report. Everyone knew that after Brexit there would be an extra mandate for Sweden and that it would go to the Green Party or the SD.
Peter Lundgren’s defense attorney, Tor Åström, believes that the entire investigation against Peter Lundgren should be viewed from a political perspective.
– An incident like this would never have ended up on the table of a chief prosecutor and certainly not in district court if it weren’t for the fact that my client is a well-known politician.
The verdict against Peter Lundgren falls on October 28.
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