Encrochat revelations: 176 sentenced to total of 1,094 years in prison in Sweden
Swedish courts have sentenced 176 serious criminals to a combined 1,094 prison years based on Encrochat evidence. Expressen has examined all 43 trials in which the messages played a decisive role.
Encrochat sentences: 1,094 prison years in 43 Swedish trials
Swedish courts have handed down a total of 1,094 prison years to 176 serious criminals following the use of Encrochat evidence in 43 trials. This is shown by a mapping that Expressen has conducted of all legal cases in which encrypted messages from the service formed the basis of prosecution.
The average sentence for those convicted amounts to just over six years – and altogether it is described as the hardest blow against serious organised crime in Swedish criminal history.
The surveillance that stopped ten planned murders
On the night of 13 June last year, an internal alert was sent to 60,000 Encrochat users worldwide: the service had been hacked and would be shut down immediately. Behind the alert lay an operation that had begun months earlier – in April, French police had managed to break into the system, and through European police cooperation Europol, Swedish police had also been able to monitor communications in real time.
During the surveillance period, police report that ten planned murders were stopped in Sweden. The entire operation was carried out under strict secrecy to avoid revealing the source.
Encrochat was a service that was aimed at – and in practice dominated by – serious criminals. The subscription was expensive, the mobile phones specially adapted, and users were convinced that communication was impossible for police to intercept.
Nine life sentences and a record punishment
Expressen's review includes judgements from district court and, where appeals were made, from court of appeal. Nine men have been sentenced to life imprisonment based on Encrochat evidence – including following murders in Kungens kurva in Stockholm, at a petrol station in Norrköping and in Gamlestaden in Gothenburg. In the compilation, life sentences have been converted to 18 years, which is the shortest sentence a life sentence can be converted to – a measure that is likely to underestimate the actual outcome, since organised crime is weighted negatively in the conversion process.
The single longest combined sentence – 147 years – was handed down in the trial against the so-called Vårbyn network, which concerned murder plots, kidnapping and large-scale drug trafficking. The second longest was the sentence in the Gamlestaden case in Gothenburg: 118 years. Three gang murders in Norrköping resulted in 104 years in total. In these three cases, they involve criminal networks in conflict with rival gangs – a total of 46 people have now been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
Identification: decisive for conviction
A total of approximately 800 Swedish Encrochat users are estimated to have existed, but far from all have been identified by police. To reach a conviction, moreover, more than just the messages has been required.
In some cases identification was straightforward. The Vårbyn leader Chihab Lamouri, who hid behind the username "Mujaheed", sent selfies in his own messages. In other cases, identity has remained unknown – the drug wholesaler with the username "Rawlager" appears in several investigations, but the person's identity could not be established.
In addition to identification, courts have required supplementary evidence: surveillance information, confiscation of weapons or drugs, witness statements or other wiretapping. Encrochat messages alone have not been sufficient in a number of cases, and several trials against identified murder squads and drug dealers have ended in acquittals that have not been appealed.
Court of appeal: "kalle" was not sufficient as sole evidence
An illustrative example of the practical consequences of evidence problems was decided by the Svea Court of Appeal. A man from Eskilstuna was convicted in district court of serious weapons offences after an automatic rifle was found in April – in connection with the start of Encrochat surveillance. In his messages he had written about the weapon and other items:
"Yah hat min kalle och skorpa och en 7,65 me dämpare t alla tre jag bytte plats tog dem dit där glocken låg me hundra abi och nu killen sluta svara dagen efter han tog dem dit"
The Court of Appeal established that the man was the user "Moodybeta", but nevertheless did not consider the evidence sufficient. The problem was that only one "kalle" – slang for an automatic rifle – was found; the other weapons he mentioned were missing. This created sufficient uncertainty for the Court of Appeal not to follow the prosecutor's line.
The Court of Appeal, like several other courts, also noted that Encrochat messages must be assessed with caution: messages were missing from the compilations, and Swedish police did not have full insight into how the surveillance was technically carried out.
Slang and free evidence
The fact that courts lacked access to the technical documentation has nonetheless not prevented prosecutors from using the messages as evidence, since free evidence rules apply in Swedish courts. Suspects and their representatives have repeatedly requested that the evidence be rejected – but the courts have dismissed these requests every time.
Criminal slang has dominated the messages, and courts have had to assess how police and prosecutors interpreted the expressions. In one case, three suspected drug dealers were acquitted by the Court of Appeal in Malmö for a suspected cocaine deal. The court found that the expression "det vita" appears in the messages and that in many contexts it refers to cocaine – but that it cannot be considered generally established that the expression always has that meaning. The prosecution failed.
The review shows altogether a picture of a legal breakthrough with clear boundaries: Encrochat evidence has been decisive in hundreds of cases, but requires support from additional material to hold up in court – and criminals' deliberate coded language has in a number of cases made it impossible to prove what was actually intended.
Source: Expressen