A Swedish court on Thursday found a former employee of the Scandinavian country’s security services and armed forces and his younger brother guilty of spying for Russia. The 42- and 35-year-old men of Swedish nationality but Iranian origin were arrested in autumn 2021. Both have denied the allegations. According to the verdict, the convicts provided confidential information to the foreign intelligence service GRU for a decade, from 2011 to 2021.
“The district court convicted two brothers of aggravated espionage, and the older of the two [del delito] of unauthorized handling of classified information,” Judge Mans Wigen of Stockholm District Court said in an appearance to the press.
The Swedish newspaper The Local has identified the two people as Peyman and Payam Kia. Peyman, the eldest, a former spy services officer known in Swedish as Säkerhetspolisen or SAPO, was found guilty of collecting 90 confidential documents as part of his duties.
According to the verdict, his younger brother planned the delivery of the papers and made contact with the GRU. Payam turned over 45 of the documents to Moscow.
“Russia is the biggest threat to Sweden’s security,” Judge Wigen continued. “From the perspective of foreign powers, acts of espionage in support of Russia must be considered the most serious.” The older of the two brothers was sentenced to life imprisonment, while the younger is serving a sentence of 9 years and 10 months. The trial, in which the defendants pleaded not guilty, took place mostly behind closed doors.
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