The Social Democrats' party district in Gothenburg summoned two Social Democratic jurors to a meeting after the criticized snippa verdict, which resulted in a man being acquitted of raping a 10-year-old girl.
After the meeting, the jurors chose to leave their positions, and one of them reportedly perceived that the party had put pressure on them.
"Didn't get it right"
The Social Democrats' legal policy spokesman Ardalan Shekarabi is now criticizing how the party district in Gothenburg has handled the issue.
"It's obvious that it didn't turn out right. It may not have been their purpose to exert pressure, but it was perceived that way, says Shekarabi in SVT's 30 minutes.
He said the incident showed that there are reasons to work further on the independence of jurors. It is important, according to Shekarabi, that jurors get the support they need, but that this must come from courts and not political parties.
Threatening the independence of courts
"It has been demonstrably perceived that pressure was exerted and we cannot accept that in a state governed by the rule of law. A rule of law is based on the independence of those who judge, he says and continues:
"If this type of behaviour were to be repeated, if we do not learn any lessons from this, then there is a risk that we will end up in a situation where the independence and independence of the courts can be considered threatened.