A 25-year-old man suspected of aggravated sabotage against blue-light operations was arrested over the weekend in connection with a traffic check in Värmland, according to polisen.se. The man, who is registered as living in Örebro County, had been wanted since March 2024 and is suspected of crimes linked to the 2022 riot in Sveaparken in Örebro.
His arrest brings the total number of people formally notified of suspicion in the case to 185, polisen.se reports.
Anders Mullfors, who leads the preliminary investigation in the police area of Örebro County, said most indications suggest the man had been abroad before he was taken into custody on Saturday.
"He was arrested on Saturday in connection with a traffic check. He has been wanted since March 2024, and most things suggest he had been abroad before he was arrested this weekend," Mullfors said, according to polisen.se.
Why it matters
The Sveaparken case has become one of Sweden's longest-running riot investigations, and the arrest shows that police are still actively pursuing suspects more than four years after the events in Örebro. The case also illustrates how Swedish law now treats certain riot-related offenses: aggravated sabotage against blue-light operations carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment, which means these crimes do not expire under statute-of-limitations rules that took effect in 2025.
That legal change applies even to offenses committed before the new law came into force, provided they had not already expired at that point. The exception is for individuals who were under 18 at the time of the offense.
A long investigation, and 17 still wanted
The Sveaparken riot unfolded in connection with a public gathering that was to be held at the site in 2022. The investigation that followed became protracted, and according to polisen.se it was completed in 2024. Police nonetheless continue to monitor the remaining wanted individuals, with that monitoring described as the main ongoing work.
For this particular suspect, as for the others still outstanding, Mullfors said the investigative work that police themselves can control is finished. The material is sufficient for the man to be suspected on probable cause, he said, but the suspect must still be questioned and formally notified of the suspicions before authorities can determine whether further investigative steps are needed or whether the case can proceed to prosecution.
Seventeen other people remain wanted in absentia, polisen.se reports. Police are continuously gathering information through methods including internal intelligence work in an effort to locate them and carry out arrests.
The man arrested over the weekend is suspected of crimes dating to the Sveaparken events of 2022. He remains suspected on probable cause, the threshold Swedish law requires before a person can be formally notified of suspicion, and questioning is the next step before prosecutors decide how the case proceeds.
