The District Court has ruled that former China Ambassador Anna Lindstedt has not committed any crime in connection with the notable meeting between imprisoned publisher Gui Minhai's daughter Angela Gui and two Chinese businessmen.
- It was not entirely unexpected that it became a liberating judgment. Had there been a convict, it would have indicated that China was involved in this cooperation. In this way, China is satisfied with the verdict, says Oscar Almén, Chinese analyst at the Total Defense Research Institute (FOI), to SVT.
In China, attention to the case has been low, according to Almén.
"There is hardly any report on the Chinese media at all and the Chinese Embassy has gone out and said that it has nothing to do with this," he says.
The district court does not consider that the prosecutor was able to prove that Lindstedt negotiated with representatives of the interests of the Chinese state when she arranged the meeting.
Former China Ambassador Börje Ljunggren welcomes the court's message.
- I think it is gratifying that it became a liberation and, above all, that it should never have become a case. Anna Lindstedt's actions testify to a strange ceaselessness, but that is something other than bringing someone to trial, he says.
What is the significance of the case for Gui Minhai?
- I'm very pessimistic. Especially since he was now sentenced to ten years in prison on unsavory grounds and that China declares that he is not a Swedish citizen, which they are not really able to do. It contravenes many legal principles, says Börje Ljunggren.