Since November 24, Fredrick Federley has been on sick leave and has not worked politically.
At the same time, it became known that a man who was close to Federley had previously been sentenced to a long prison term for, among other things, several aggravated rapes against children in 2014.
Fredrick Federley and the man have gone their separate ways, but according to information to SVT Nyheter, Federley must have known about the crimes since at least this summer.
On Friday afternoon, Federley announced that he was leaving all his political posts.
When he will formally leave his seat in the European Parliament is not yet known.
- There is no other way to move forward.
It affects my family and my relatives.
So I have realized that I am allowed to leave my political posts, Federley says to DT.
DT: What do you say about the crimes for which the man was convicted?
- These are terrible crimes.
I feel physically ill just thinking about it.
Lööf: Wise decision
The Center Party's party leader Annie Lööf comments in a text message to SVT:
- It is a wise decision by Fredrick Federley to leave his assignments to fully focus on his health.
What has happened has caused enormous difficulties for Fredrick to continue his current political assignments.
It is a personal tragedy and is extremely sad.
The text is updated.