Ex-police chief appeals jail term for sex offences
Göran Lindberg, the former Uppsala county police chief convicted in July for a string of sex crimes, has appealed his six and half year prison sentence.
Lindberg, who faced a total of 23 charges, has appealed against a charge of aggravated rape, two cases of rape, one of assault and one of pimping.
The former senior police officer and principal of Sweden's police training college, was found guilty on all but six of the charges levelled against him, admitting only to the charges of paying for sex.
He was acquitted of one charge of rape, three charges of pimping and one charge of preparing to rape a child.
Prosecutors had wanted Lindberg to serve eight years in jail, but he was sentenced to six and half years, as well as substantial damages and legal expenses. Lindberg has now also appealed to get these financial penalties reduced.
The man's lawyer Karl Harling argued that there are grounds for appeal as the Södertörn district court placed inordinately low demands on the standard of evidence.
Furthermore he argued that the court made an erroneous evaluation of the evidence with regards to the aggravated rape of a 17-year-old girl at a conference centre in Täby in Stockholm. Harling argues that the case is a matter of word against word and maintained that the victim's testimony was muddled and superficial.
The exceedingly detailed nature of Lindberg's testimony has been wrongly interpreted as evidence of it being a reconstruction after the event, Harling furthermore argued, and should instead lend his testimony more credibility.
Lindberg was arrested on January 25th 2010 in Falun, where he was on his way to a meeting with a young girl with whom he had planned a sexual encounter. At this point he had been under police surveillance for some time.
When he was arrested, Lindberg was carrying a bag containing items that could be used to facilitate sexual assaults.
The charges against Lindberg sent shockwaves through the Swedish police service. His seniority and the nature of the charges against him make it the biggest ever scandal in Swedish policing.
The impact of the charges was all the greater due to Lindberg’s reputation as one of the Swedish police’s top authorities on ethics and morals. He frequently gave lectures on topics such as gender equality and spoke out against sexual harassment and bullying.
Two members of the police board in Uppsala County spoke out after the trial, demanding the establishment of a "truth commission" to investigate whether Lindberg committed crimes while he was serving as chief constable, between 1997 and 2006.
Prosecutor Håkan Roswall said that two prostitutes have claimed he was a client while he was still chief constable. The allegations were not investigated because the crimes had exceeded the statute of limitations.
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Lindberg, who faced a total of 23 charges, has appealed against a charge of aggravated rape, two cases of rape, one of assault and one of pimping.
The former senior police officer and principal of Sweden's police training college, was found guilty on all but six of the charges levelled against him, admitting only to the charges of paying for sex.
He was acquitted of one charge of rape, three charges of pimping and one charge of preparing to rape a child.
Prosecutors had wanted Lindberg to serve eight years in jail, but he was sentenced to six and half years, as well as substantial damages and legal expenses. Lindberg has now also appealed to get these financial penalties reduced.
The man's lawyer Karl Harling argued that there are grounds for appeal as the Södertörn district court placed inordinately low demands on the standard of evidence.
Furthermore he argued that the court made an erroneous evaluation of the evidence with regards to the aggravated rape of a 17-year-old girl at a conference centre in Täby in Stockholm. Harling argues that the case is a matter of word against word and maintained that the victim's testimony was muddled and superficial.
The exceedingly detailed nature of Lindberg's testimony has been wrongly interpreted as evidence of it being a reconstruction after the event, Harling furthermore argued, and should instead lend his testimony more credibility.
Lindberg was arrested on January 25th 2010 in Falun, where he was on his way to a meeting with a young girl with whom he had planned a sexual encounter. At this point he had been under police surveillance for some time.
When he was arrested, Lindberg was carrying a bag containing items that could be used to facilitate sexual assaults.
The charges against Lindberg sent shockwaves through the Swedish police service. His seniority and the nature of the charges against him make it the biggest ever scandal in Swedish policing.
The impact of the charges was all the greater due to Lindberg’s reputation as one of the Swedish police’s top authorities on ethics and morals. He frequently gave lectures on topics such as gender equality and spoke out against sexual harassment and bullying.
Two members of the police board in Uppsala County spoke out after the trial, demanding the establishment of a "truth commission" to investigate whether Lindberg committed crimes while he was serving as chief constable, between 1997 and 2006.
Prosecutor Håkan Roswall said that two prostitutes have claimed he was a client while he was still chief constable. The allegations were not investigated because the crimes had exceeded the statute of limitations.
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