The Swedish Metoo movement has so far resulted in at least three cases of serious slander where well-known men in culture and media Sweden have reported women who have accused them of rape in two cases and sexual abuse in one case.

One of the cases that received the most attention is that of the writer Cissi Wallin and the former Aftonbladet profile Fredrik Virtanen.

It was in October 2017 that Cissi Wallin wrote via her Instagram account that she was raped by Fredrik Virtanen. Wallin had just over 50,000 followers at that time, a figure that is almost twice as large today.

The post was also shared by other people with an even larger following, such as the author, Camilla Läckberg (over 200,000 followers at the time) and comedian Mia Skäringer (over 300,000 followers).

Ended on Aftonbladet

In the report, Fredrik Virtanen's lawyer writes, among other things, that the post, and a number of subsequent posts, has received huge dissemination, is untrue and has caused Fredrik Virtanen considerable damage both in business and in private life.

The lawyer writes: "As important as it is that the legal community can handle and prosecute various types of abuse, it is just as important that the legal community responds to the sheer hunt that has affected some people in connection with #metoo in the social media."

In the autumn, Aftonbladet launched an internal investigation, Virtanen was petitioned as a writer from the management side and left his position at the newspaper at the end of the year.

Maximum sentence: two years in prison

Cissi Wallin's lawyer, for his part, argues that the first post certainly contains an advocacy statement, but that it was justifiable to print Virtanen's name in view of his position in public and that what Cissi Wallin wrote is a truthful account of what she has been exposed to .

The lawyer also writes that the first post was made in the context of the survey and debate that took place within the metoo movement and therefore had "great public interest and social significance in a feminist and human rights perspective". He also thinks that Cissi Wallin must be able to tell about a self-experienced event, even if Virtanen has not been convicted.

Anyone convicted of serious slander can face fines or imprisonment for up to two years. Prosecutor Daniel Suneson has not yet proposed a penalty.