Sweden’s Supreme Court: Media cannot be forced to share material from riots

Swedish media do not have to disclose material from the riots in Rosengård in 2023, the Supreme Court has ruled. The material had been requested by prosecutors for an investigation into the incident.

The riots followed in the wake of Salwan Momika’s Koran burning at Värnhemstorget in Malmö on September 3, 2023, when hundreds of people gathered in Rosengård to protest. The riots turned violent, with stones thrown at police cars and cars set on fire.

After the riots, prosecutor Henrik Nordquist asked several major media companies, including tax-funded media outlet SVT and major broadcaster TV4, to hand over “copies of all filmed and photographed material” in order to obtain more material for the investigation.

This drew criticism from the media, which cited the constitutional protection of sources and the threat to journalistic independence.

The district court later denied the prosecutor’s request as several of the suspects had already been indicted.

Now the Supreme Court has ruled that the media do not have to disclose their material on the riots.

– It is a good day for journalism. The media and the police have very different roles. No one should think that we are working together. The media is independent, even from the police, which we have an important role in scrutinizing, says Anne Lagercrantz, vice-president of the tax-funded state broadcaster Swedish Television (SVT) and chair of the industry association Utgivarna (The Publishers).

However, Henrik Nordqvist points out that the Supreme Court’s decision was relatively even, with three judges voting against the prosecutor and two in favor. He also believes that the court shared his view that there was no risk of revealing sources.

– It’s a Pyrrhic victory for the media houses, he says.