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Last week, Fredrick Federley, Vice President and MEP, announced that he was leaving his post temporarily. He referred to personal reasons that make it impossible for him to focus on politics and said he had a close relative who has been convicted of a felony.
“I have felt very bad for a long time, which has increased recently. I feel that at this moment I cannot focus on my political mission. I have collapsed and need to recover, heal and gain strength,” wrote Fredrick Federley on social media.
The party leadership became aware on Federley’s relationship with the convict on November 23. He was then contacted by both party leader Annie Lööf and the party secretary.
– There are discussions in the party leadership. He is the second vice president, so it is clear that we have discussed what consequences this will have and how we should handle it, says party secretary Michael Arthursson.
Party Secretary Michael Arthursson (C)
Photo: Johan Jeppsson
Earlier this week, Arthursson told SVT that trust in Federley had been damaged because it had emerged that he had known about the relative’s crime for a long time. But the party has yet to make a decision about their future, a week and a half after they first knew.
– Especially since right now he has a very serious mental illness. It is not possible to have structured discussions about the consequences of this in the future. We have to wait until he feels better, says Arthursson.
– But we will take this discussion, it is a matter of time before we do it. We cannot judge when it will happen, but we will.
Are there people in the party who want to be deprived of their political duties?
– There may be. We have internal discussions and we keep them there until further notice.
Federley is now on sick leave and will not participate in any political activity for some time, neither on the party board nor in the European Parliament.
– This whole story is very tragic and worrying for Fredrick Federley. He is now on sick leave after visiting a psychologist and doctor last week, a couple of months to start.
Federley’s former relatives are on probation, which means that the person has been released after serving two-thirds of the prison sentence, but may still be forced to contact the Prison and Probation Service of Sweden.
– It’s very serious. We have said it both publicly and to Fredrick. It has damaged trust in Fredrick Federley.
How long does he himself claim to have known about the crimes?
– I don’t have exact information about it. You should make this clear when you can have those discussions both with us and in public.
Do you think he led the party behind the light?
– We had wanted to get information about this relationship before.
Do you know when the relationship ended?
– No, I don’t know exactly when he did it. He must explain it himself.
How do you think one should think about the border between what a representative does in private life and the political mission?
– Politics is a trustworthy industry and it is important that you act in order to maintain trust with both members and the general public.
Fredrick Federley writes in a text message to DN that he is initially on sick leave until the end of February:
“I’m stuck at the bottom and I need treatment and time to get back to the surface.”
