The trial began on January 14 and only the first day - when the prosecutor presented the bail - has been open to the public and journalists. The remainder of the trial has been held behind closed doors to avoid the risk of one of the victim's identity being classified.

Three former pastors are prosecuted, among them Åsa Waldau - now Jacobsson - and Peter Gembäck. The police investigation started after Peter Gembäck entered the police house in Uppsala one day in September 2017 and reported himself. The indictment was filed in Uppsala District Court in May 2019 and deals with several cases of ill-treatment, one case of unlawful coercion and one case of sexual exploitation of a person in a dependency position.

The trial has been going on for over ten days and an important part of the prosecutor's evidence has consisted of hearings with the plaintiffs, witnesses and the suspects.

During the trial, Åsa Waldau, formerly called "the bride of Christ," recognized ear files and nudges.

Has gone as expected

On Wednesday, prosecutors and attorneys will give their final speeches. Prosecutor Liselott Herschend will present what punishments she believes the defendants should be sentenced to.

She says that the trial ran roughly as expected.

- During the interrogation, the people involved told us much like during the preliminary investigation, so there have been no major surprises, says Liselott Herschend.

However, an unexpected event occurred when about half the trial was finalized: Negotiations were canceled because one of the committee members had written about the case on Facebook. The Board of Directors renounced his assignment, but when the question was raised whether the entire right could be disputed, a promptly called in another right had to try the case.

But after the court found that this was not the case, the negotiations on the events in Knutby could be resumed.