Liberals 'wanted journalist to dig the dirt'
The Liberal Party wanted the media to chase scandals about the Social Democrats, and handed a journalist login details to the governing party's computer network. That is what former press secretary Per Jodenius told police during questioning.
Jodenius was sacked last week from his job at the party's youth movement following revelations that he had logged into the Social Democrats' network without permission. Party secretary Johan Jakobsson said he had told Jodenius to stop logging into the network and to contact the media to confess to what he had done.
But according to Swedish Radio, Jodenius has said during police questioning that the real reason to contact the media was to persuade journalists themselves to log in to the network and dig the dirt on the Social Democrats.
The day after Jodenius resigned in a blaze of publicity, Jakobsson told him to contact news agency TT and take the blame for the the unauthorized logins. But at the same time, Jakobsson was appearing on television to deny knowing anything about the affair. According to Swedish Radio, this persuaded Jodenius not to speak to TT and become a scapegoat.
The press secretary's version of events was supported by Expressen journalist Niklas Svensson. He said he has had the login details since March. Svensson admits logging in on three occasions, and is under police investigation.
Svensson said he would not reveal who gave him the login details, but said he was not given them with the purpose of revealing the scandal.
"I was given the information to find scandals about the Social Democrats. That was the purpose and it was explained in that way by my source," he said.
He also said that nothing he had seen on the Social Democrats' network had resulted in an article in Expressen. Johan Jakobsson's lawyer Per Durling told Swedish Radio that Jodenius' claims were untrue. Jakobsson, who also resigned following the scandal, was being questioned by police on Monday, but is not suspected of any crime.
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Jodenius was sacked last week from his job at the party's youth movement following revelations that he had logged into the Social Democrats' network without permission. Party secretary Johan Jakobsson said he had told Jodenius to stop logging into the network and to contact the media to confess to what he had done.
But according to Swedish Radio, Jodenius has said during police questioning that the real reason to contact the media was to persuade journalists themselves to log in to the network and dig the dirt on the Social Democrats.
The day after Jodenius resigned in a blaze of publicity, Jakobsson told him to contact news agency TT and take the blame for the the unauthorized logins. But at the same time, Jakobsson was appearing on television to deny knowing anything about the affair. According to Swedish Radio, this persuaded Jodenius not to speak to TT and become a scapegoat.
The press secretary's version of events was supported by Expressen journalist Niklas Svensson. He said he has had the login details since March. Svensson admits logging in on three occasions, and is under police investigation.
Svensson said he would not reveal who gave him the login details, but said he was not given them with the purpose of revealing the scandal.
"I was given the information to find scandals about the Social Democrats. That was the purpose and it was explained in that way by my source," he said.
He also said that nothing he had seen on the Social Democrats' network had resulted in an article in Expressen. Johan Jakobsson's lawyer Per Durling told Swedish Radio that Jodenius' claims were untrue. Jakobsson, who also resigned following the scandal, was being questioned by police on Monday, but is not suspected of any crime.
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