Brothers suspected of spying for Russia appear at Swedish court

By Alexandra Enberg

IZMIR, Türkiye (AA) - A former worker for Sweden’s security service and his brother, who are accused of espionage on behalf of Russia, went on trial on Friday, local media reported.

In the preliminary hearing, Peyman Kia, who worked for 10 years at Sapo, the Swedish security service, and at Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service, pleaded not guilty, according to the daily Aftonbladet.

He is accused of having sold top-secret material to Russia in exchange for gold and dollars.

For over a year, the brothers were detained separately with severe restrictions with only a few people allowed to visit them under the supervision of personnel from the security police.

The investigation shows that the Swedish security police for years suspected a mole in their organization, but not until early 2017 they focused on one person of interest: Peyman Kia.

After nearly five years they had enough evidence to make an arrest and on Sept. 20, 2021, Sapo arrested Peyman Kia in a dawn raid.

Classified documents have been leaked for years including the full list of employees at the Swedish security police.

The trial takes place under heavy security in the Stockholm district court.

Several of the upcoming witnesses have qualified protective identities with ID documents, passports and driver's licenses with social security numbers and names that are made up but registered as real in all public records.

In total, there are twelve people testifying behind closed doors, according to Expressen newspaper.