Former Beijing Ambassador Anna Lindstedt is now charged with having unanimously - without the permission of her superiors - negotiated with representatives of China. According to the prosecutor, this has posed a danger to the national security. If convicted, the sentence can be a maximum of two years in prison.

The meeting at the Sheraton

The issue concerns her actions in the case of imprisoned Swedish book publisher Gui Minhai, at a meeting at the Hotel Sheraton in January 2019. She brought the publisher's daughter Angela Gui with Chinese businessman Kevin Liu, according to the indictment for persuading him to use his political influence to get Gui Minhai free.

Since then Anna Lindstedt has been deprived of her duties but receives salary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

She has so far not wanted to comment on the charges. SVT News has taken note of her defense in the interrogations of the Security Police in the preliminary investigation.

The charges:

The accused is suspected to have acted outside the scope of the instructions given to her.

Anna Lindstedt: “I reported in an email to the UD in Stockholm that the purpose of the meeting was to mediate contact between Professor Liu and Angela Gui and possibly offer her a job. It was understood in the email that the meeting would be about Gui Minhai. I agree that I was able to make it clearer. No specific guidelines have been communicated for this case. An ambassador has far-reaching powers to act independently. "

The defendant is suspected of having negotiated with representatives of Chinese interests.

Anna Lindstedt: “Professor Liu represented his own business interests. We had a discussion in the public environment which shows that it was not an unauthorized act or a concealed self-negotiation, as it was incorrectly presented in the media. The Chinese Embassy has denied any involvement in the discussion. "

According to the prosecutor, the prosecutor's actions have posed a danger to Sweden's peaceful relationship with China.

Anna Lindstedt: “I was just an intermediary and did not see any major risks. Kevin Liu loves Sweden and is committed to having good relationships. He holds some kind of professorship at Nanjing University and has an exchange with many Swedish and Nordic companies. I made the assessment that he was a respected person and that it was important to turn over all the stones. I do not know that he was denied entry into Sweden. "