After living under death threats for almost fifteen years, the journalist and historian Henrik Arnstad received another aggressive voice message on his phone.
A message that would be classified as an illegal threat according to prosecutors.
Later, Arnstad receives a letter in which a 70-year-old apologizes for the voicemail and for the first time in Henrik Arnstad's career, charges are brought, after the journalist reported the threats over a hundred times.
- I think it's extremely gratifying.
I hope that this is the beginning of a new attitude on the part of the judiciary and the authorities and that they start to take this huge threatening industry that exists against journalists seriously, says Henrik Arnstad and continues:
- One third of all journalists who work in Sweden live under threat.
70 percent are subjected to harassment and this is a huge threat to democracy.
Threats everyday for journalists
The letter that Henrik Arnstad received from the man could legally be classified as an acknowledgment and one could therefore after several rounds prosecute the 70-year-old.
But this is one of the few cases where the police have acted against the threats, says Henrik Arnstad.
- Hopefully this sends out a late signal to Sweden's publishers that: now it's time to start reporting to the police again.
Because the police and the prosecutor's office are starting to take this seriously, says Henrik Arnstad.
SVT has contacted the police for a comment.