Säpo's Insight on Minister Forssell's Son's Extremist Ties

Johan Forssell (M) learned about his son's right-wing extremist connections a few weeks ago. Initially, Expo began asking questions, followed by a complete picture from Säpo, according to the minister.

"What I can say is that we have our own information gathering," says Säpo's spokesperson Jonathan Svensson.

Last week, Expo revealed that a minister has a close relative who has been active in the right-wing extremist violent movement.

The minister in question is Migration Minister Johan Forssell (M), who himself disclosed that the relative is his son in an interview with TV4's "Nyhetsmorgon."

"I was naturally shocked and horrified," says Forssell about his reaction upon learning of his son's connections.

In the interview, he states that he was contacted by Säpo "a couple of weeks ago" and that the agency then informed him about the situation. Around the same time, an interview request came from the magazine Expo, preceding Säpo's contact.

"It came almost simultaneously with a very short interval. An interview request came from Expo, and then the full picture came from Säpo," says Johan Forssell.

Säpo Remains Tight-Lipped

Expo's revelation indicates that Säpo was unaware of the son's extremist connections during the year he was active in the movement.

Säpo still refuses to answer questions about when and how they received the information.

"We are generally limited in what we can say about what information we have and when it comes to us. What I can state is that we have our own information gathering," says Jonathan Svensson, spokesperson at Säpo.

Should it be interpreted that you knew about this before Expo contacted you?

"What I can say, as mentioned, is that we have our own information gathering."

Svensson says that they cannot go into further details about how and when they receive information about their protected persons, which includes government ministers.