Posing With Alleged Sexual Harassers Lands Swedish PM in Trouble

In pictures taken earlier this year, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was seen shaking hands with Arif Moradi, who heads an advocate group for illegal Afghan migrants living in Sweden. The pictures were taken in spring, when Moradi was investigated for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

The Swedish news outlet Samhällsnytt claimed that the meeting between Löfven and the Afghan mouthpiece happened at the initiative of Lottie Fallman, a local Social Democrat in Söderköping, the same municipality, where Moradi was investigated. However, she herself denied the information.

​Earlier in October, Arif Moradi was handed a conditional sentence and a fine for sexual abusing an underage girl at a Christian youth camp located in Östra Ryds church south of Norrköping. According to the 14-year-old girl's testimony, Moradi approached her several times, trying to grab her breasts. She also described an instance where Moradi tried to assault her at night, when he attempted to undress her. By her own admission, she managed to flee to the nearest bathroom, where she locked herself up and sent several messages to a friend, the news outlet Nyheter Idag reported.

Moradi, who admitted to having converted to Christianity, described himself as a "deep believer." Because Moradi's age is officially listed as 19, which is considerably higher than a regular confirmation candidate (the camp was dedicated to the confirmation of young believers), he was allowed to join the camp as a youth leader.

Previously, Moradi had received considerable media attention and was highlighted by, among others, Swedish Radio, Dagens Nyheter and Göteborgs-Posten for his role as a spokesperson for "unaccompanied refugee children."

​Moradi, who was staying in Sweden illegally, as the district court ruled, is an established activist who has spoken to hundreds of people during rallies in support of Afghans in Sweden aimed at preventing their deportation.

Stefan Löfven's press secretary Jonathan Holst admitted to Nyheter Idag that he was aware of Moradi's sentence.

Weinstein case revisited

This is not the first time Löfven has been caught posing with people whose reputations have been tarnished by sexual allegations. In promo photos taken by Swedish Radio in 2012, Löfven was seen with star journalist Fredrik Virtanen of the daily Aftonbladet, whom blogger and journalist Cissi Wallin recently accused of rape.

In a fiery Instagram post, Wallin claimed that Virtanen had drugged and raped her in 2006, eleven years ago. Previously, she claimed an "older media man with power" had sexually assaulted her, without naming names. In her post on Instagram, she explained that she didn't dare to challenge Aftonbladet's feminist profile until now, referring, inter alia, to the sex scandal surrounding US star producer Harvey Weinstein.

"I cannot be quiet anymore. Should have screamed his name long ago, but he has, among other things, let his agent call my bosses and so on, and dubbed me a 'crazy mythomaniac,'" Cissi Wallin wrote. Back in 2010, she provided graphic details of how a "powerful media person" tried to shove his genitals into her mouth after drugging her, the news outlet Nyheter24 reported.

In the aftermath of "Virtanen-gate," other Swedish women stepped out against rapes gone unpunished.

"Cissi is not alone, I've heard from so many others about the same man. For years. Still silence, however," Swedish crime writer Camilla Läckberg wrote in a supporting Instagram post, claiming this was a "social illness."

Aftonbladet retorted with an article titled "Sharing others' information can be libel." Although only references to the #metoo campaign were made, in which women step out with previously unreported rape accusations, Twitter users linked it to the "Virtanen-gate," interpreting it as a hidden threat against Aftonbladet's own readers.

​Sarcasm from Twitter users

Earlier this year, the Swedish news outlet Fria Tider claimed Löfven to have been photographed with a 19-year-old Somali who had been convicted of raping a mentally disturbed woman in her 80s.

"He is really good at choosing selfie-buddies, this Löfven," a sarcastic Twitter user wrote.

"I believe I've started to spot a pattern," another user wrote.

​"Löfven with yet another rapist. When will it end?" a third user wondered, re-posting a photograph of Löfven and Virtanen.