The royal relative went free when the court ducked the questions

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Crime  

The court's reluctance to help the police raises questions 

Oisin Cantwell  

News columnist  

This is a commenting text. Analysis and positions are the writer's.  

Updated 16.41 | Published 15.38  

Hundreds of men are suspected of having bought sex at the massage parlor. Photo: The police  

The court did not want to help the police find the royal relative who was suspected of buying sex.  

That the head of state's organization behaves like this is not impressive.  

The man was charged with buying sex after a double swipe at a Thai salon, but the case was dropped a few days ago because the police failed to serve him with the summons before the alleged crime ran out of time.  

This is a story that offers the grateful opportunity to be able to direct criticism in different directions.  

Anyone who wants to can, for example, sigh over an evening press that doesn't care one bit that hundreds of similar cases are closed every year, but which sets full speed when it's about a relative of a royal. 

It is also possible to have opinions that the police only started looking for the man a few days before the two-year statute of limitations expired.  

Having said that, there are further questions to ask.  

The police have tried several times to search for the suspect in his home, located in a property managed by the Royal House.  

In addition, the detectives have spoken to representatives of the court, but say they have received vague answers about where the man might be.  

FACTS  

The case in brief  

A man in his 50s with close connections to Sweden's royal family was charged with having bought sexual services in connection with an investigation into a brothel at Östermalm in Stockholm. However, the man could not be found before the statute of limitations for the crime expired, which led to his acquittal.​​​​ 

This incident is part of a larger investigation into a Thai brothel in Östermalm. In connection with the investigation, several other men have been punished for buying sex. For example, an entertainment profile was sentenced to 50 daily fines for buying sexual services and admitted the crime.  

With growing frustration, the police sought permission from the court to search the residence, but were denied. Not surprising, as the law places tight limits on tapping into people's homes for service purposes.  

Sources within the police are irritated. They find it unlikely that the court does not know where the man has been and believe they should have been helped. 

Margareta Thorgren, the court's press manager, tells Aftonbladet:  

- The court cannot comment on cases concerning private individuals. What I can say is that because this is a person who lives in a property within the royal estate, the court has helped the police with an address where this individual lives. 

- We do not know where this person is.  

I find the policemen's anger perfectly understandable. Sure, it's about a crime that would have only resulted in a fine for a man who is no longer charged and thus no longer a suspect. 

But the crime is part of a large tangle of 2,500 sex purchases and hundreds of suspected cods.  

An operation that was carried on for a couple of years in a Thai salon before it was exposed and a man was sentenced to prison for aggravated pimping and everything from a member of parliament to a celebrity in the entertainment world was prosecuted for buying sex.  

Som of the women who worked there were foreign and lacked work permits in Sweden.  

One of them has told that she arrived in Sweden with only a small bag, was accommodated in an apartment in Hagsätra and was taught to "massage".  

In other words, it is often the case in contexts like this: organized crime being investigated by the police's human trafficking unit. 

An activity that primarily affects girls and young women and is widely recognized as one of the most profitable forms of international crime.  

It is against this background that the head of state's organization's moderate interest in the case should be seen. 

Parts of the royal family during a concert earlier in November. Photo: Jessica Gow/TT