Two Iranian-born Swedish brothers were given lengthy prison sentences on Thursday for spying for Russia and its military intelligence service GRU for a decade. The oldest of the two naturalised Swedes — Peyman Kia — was sentenced to life, while his younger brother, Payam Kia, was sentence to nine years and 10 months. They had appeared before the Stockholm District Court where they faced charges of having worked jointly to pass information to Russia between Sept. 28, 2011, and Sept. 20, 2021.
A life sentence in Sweden generally means a minimum of 20 to 25 years in prison. “It is placed beyond reasonable doubt that the brothers, together and in consultation, without authorisation and for the benefit of Russia and the GRU, acquired, forwarded and disclosed information" to a foreign power with the purpose of damaging Sweden's security, the court said in its verdict.
The Stockholm District Court said that Payam Kia “was the driving force in their joint crime” while the involvement of Peyman Kia “was of lesser relative importance.” Almost the entire trial was held behind closed doors.
Between 2014 and 2015, Peyman Kia, 42, worked for Sweden's domestic intelligence agency, but also for the country's armed forces. Swedish prosecutors allege that the data they gave the Russians originated from several authorities within the Swedish security and intelligence service, known by its acronym SAPO.