Two Swedes Jailed for Bombing Danish Tax Office
COPENHAGEN—A Copenhagen court on Thursday found two Swedes guilty of bombing the Danish tax agency and sentenced them to five and four years’ jail respectively. Zacharias Tamer Hamzi, 24, and Nurettin Nuray Syuleyman, 23, were convicted of transporting a bomb via the Oresund Bridge, known from the TV crime series “The Bridge”, and detonating the device in August 2019. The explosion in Copenhagen shattered glass doors and windows and scorched metal cladding at the main entrance of the building in Nordhavn, just north of the city center. One person was slightly wounded. The motive for the bombing remained unclear, but the court dismissed terrorism charges. The prosecutor had sought lifetime sentences for the childhood friends, neither of whom had been convicted of a serious crime before. “I’m pleased that my…
STOCKHOLM—A Swedish court on Friday found a former ambassador to China not guilty of exceeding her authority in dealings with a foreign power in connection with a meeting aimed at helping free bookseller Gui Minhai.
The envoy, Anna Lindstedt, was replaced in the post after she took part in the meeting in Stockholm in January 2019. The Swedish foreign ministry said it had not authorized the meeting and that she acted against Swedish policy by taking part.
The Stockholm district court said in its verdict: “Overall, it is established that the objective requisites for the crime of arbitrariness at negotiations with foreign powers are in no part fulfilled.”
Gui, a Hong Kong-based Swedish citizen who has published books critical of Chinese Communist leaders, was sentenced in February in China to 10 years in prison after being convicted of illegally providing intelligence to foreigners.
Gui had been abducted in Thailand in 2015 and later appeared in custody in mainland China. The bookseller’s case has soured relations between Sweden and China, also under strain over security concerns.
The case against Lindstedt was the first of its kind in Sweden. A conviction could have meant a maximum sentence of six years in prison.
Gui’s daughter Angela has said she was invited by the ambassador to meet two unidentified businessmen who could help secure her father’s release, and that she was advised during the meeting to keep quiet about her father’s case.
Focus News: Swedish Court Finds Ex-envoy to China Not Guilty in Gui Minhai Case
US Treasury Chief Supports More Direct Payments in Next Coronavirus Aid Bill
WASHINGTON—U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that he supports another round of direct payments to individuals as part of the next coronavirus legislation and is working to get it passed by Congress by the end of July. Mnuchin also told CNBC in an interview that not all of the airlines that signed Treasury loan agreements will need to access those loans, as they may be able to meet their financing needs in private financial markets. Despite United Airlines’ decision on Wednesday to notify 36,000 employees of potential furloughs, Mnuchin said he believed most airlines wanted to keep as many staff as possible, and healthy airlines were needed to aid the U.S. economic recovery. Regarding the future of the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program, Mnuchin said any extension of…
