Now Sweden’s first anonymous witness is heard

In the spring of 2022, a 36-year-old man who was previously a member of the MC club Hells Angels was killed.
The man had been excluded after a conflict, and planned to start a competing MC club in Lidköping.

Now three men are charged, suspected of murder, assisting in murder and instigation for murder. The person accused of ordering the murder has held a leading position in Hells Angels.

The trial is unique. For the first time, a person will testify in a Swedish court without revealing his or her identity. The trial began in early Mayand the person will be heard next week. According to P4 Skaraborg the witness, called by the prosecutor, has a connection to the criminal MC environment.

Peter Stafverfeldt, who is the chairman of the court, cannot confirm.

« I don’t know anything about this person, » he says.

The only people who know the identity of the witness are the prosecutor and the police who interrogated the person, as well as a councilor at the district court. The case is handled by Skaraborg District Court, where Peter Stafverfeldt is a team, but the building in Skövde has no suitable security room. The negotiations are therefore held in Attunda District Court in Sollentuna.

Peter Stafverfeldt has been preparing for the special trial since early April, when the prosecutor asked for permission to hear an anonymous witness. The request was approved by the councilor at the district court, who assessed that the legal requirements were met. In order for a person to testify anonymously, among other things, there is a considerable risk that the witness or their relatives will be subjected to a serious crime if the identity becomes known.

At Skaraborg District Court There is now a security cabinet where all documents relating to the anonymous witness are stored. In order to protect the person’s identity during the hearing, Peter Stafverfeldt has been assisted by the Court of Justice to produce a voting district.

– But if someone speaks very strong dialect, or if the person has a special way of expressing themselves that is a bit unique – maybe with imagery and so – then you can still not guarantee that it will not be identified, the lawyer notes.

The right will be able to ask questions to the witness, which will be heard by phone. But the person does not have to answer everything.

– The witness is right, according to the law, to refuse to answer questions that can reveal his identity, says Peter Stafverfeldt.

The lawyer notes that an anonymous testimony poses new challenges in court.

– Normally, as a judge, you want to see and hear the witness, to see how it reacts to questions. In order to be able to assess the reliability of the data, it is considered important, he says.

Peter Stafverfeldt knows The arguments for and against the change in the law, but do not want to decide whether he thinks it is right or wrong to allow secret witnesses. Instead, the lawyer focuses on the first hearing to be correctly.

Until the witness is ringing up, it is uncertain whether the testimony will be allowed. When the hearing begins on Monday, the court will ask questions to both prosecutors and defenders to determine if it is still appropriate to hear the person.

– Something may have happened during the journey. Police and prosecutors may have been given information that indicates that the witness does not speak the truth, for example. Or the identity of the witness may have become known, and then you can no longer allow it, says the lawyer.