The Danish intelligence service interrogates media chiefs: "Trying to keep quiet"

In the past year, Danish media have revealed several scandals surrounding the country's military intelligence service, FE.

This summer, among other things, Swedish Television together with Danmarks Radio was able to reveal that the American NSA spied on Swedish and several other countries' leading politicians with the help of FE via Danish fiber cables.

On Monday, dramatic new information emerged.

The chief of the Swedish Armed Forces' intelligence service, Lars Findsen, has been secretly detained for a month, suspected of having leaked classified information to the media.

Had meetings with media executives

In mid-December, the police and defense intelligence services PET and FE had meetings with several heads of media houses where they said that there is a risk of up to 12 years in prison if they publish particularly secret information.

 - Such an unspecific request is difficult not to perceive as anything other than a threat, says Mads Brandstrup, whose organization has also sent a request to the Danish government if the action is sanctioned.

Friborg: "Unprecedented"

According to SVT Nyheter's responsible publisher Charlotta Friborg, the Danish military and police authorities' actions against the media are problematic.

- I think that what I hear about what is happening in Denmark right now is very worrying.

Denmark has a constitutional ban on censorship, just like Sweden.

This means that you as a publisher can be held accountable for your publications afterwards.

That's a whole other thing.

That authorities call in media representatives to warn or teach, I think is unprecedented, she says.

Asked about sources

In addition to the meeting with the media managers, several investigative reporters, also from SVT's partner Danmarks Radio, have been called for police questioning to be asked what sources they had.

All managers of the media houses surveyed have communicated that they will not say anything at all about sources.

- What we are most nervous and worried about is that this is a sloping plane.

We have seen it in Finland, for example, where the police investigated journalists' private addresses for a deal there that is similar to the Danish one, says Mads Brandstrup.