Priest accused of smuggling an asylum-seeker
Photo Swedish police, collage by Swedish Dagen
Northern Europe
The Swedish priest suspected of smuggling a refugee out of the Migration Agency may keep her position. However, she does receive a formal written warning from the legal department of the Church of Sweden.
February 2021, a 20-year-old asylum seeker disappeared from the Swedish Migration Agency, as reported by Dagen at the time. Two women, of whom one is a priest, are suspected of smuggling the migrant out of the detention centre in a suitcase. They deny any crime.
The church order of the Church of Sweden allows the judicial department to declare a priest ineligible to perform the ordination ministry if he or she damaged his or her reputation through his lifestyle, for example, by a criminal act. That is reported by Dagen. Yet, the legal department of the church (the so-called Domkapitlet), deems it sufficient in this case to issue a written warning and leave it at that.
Asylum
Before he disappeared from the Migration Agency, the man's requests for asylum were rejected several times, both in Sweden and Germany. Even though he converted to Christianity in the process, he was not allowed to stay. The court assessed that his faith is not genuine, despite verifications by the priest.
The priest had taken a big suitcase with her when she and the other woman came to the detention centre to visit the asylum seeker. The women claimed that the suitcase contained church belongings, which they needed for their visit, which included the baptism of the 20-year-old. Thus, the guard allowed them to take it with them.
After the women and the asylum seeker stayed in a separate room for a while, the priest indicated that she wanted to leave with the suitcase, while the other woman remained in the room with a closed door.
After a while, the remaining woman called the guard to ask where the asylum seeker was. She said he went to the restroom and did not return. That was the last time the man was seen.
Not been found
Questioning the woman who remained in the visitor's room was not of any help. She denied any charges of promoting escape and said not to know where the asylum seeker was. In July, the priest was questioned for the first time, but she also denied the charges.
According to the Swedish Migration Agency, however, the escape was carefully planned. When taken to court, the women are found guilty of promoting escape, which is punishable by a fine or a jail term of up to a year.
Up till now, the 20-year-old has not been found.
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