Conference turris::scandia

215.0. "Sweden's Ombudsman resigns" by TLE::SAVAGE (Neil, @Spit Brook) Wed Jun 24 1987 10:08

 ANI23***             Copyright 1986 The Associated Press     SISCOM IP
    
                        Accused Ombudsman Is Quitting
      
    STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP). The top Swedish official responsible for
    investigating official misconduct will resign after being accused of
    cheating on his expense account and abusing his office, newspapers
    reported. 
    
    Per-Erik Nilsson has already written a resignation letter and will
    likely submit it before a scheduled meeting July 2 of a parliamentary
    committee looking into the charges against him, the reports said
    Tuesday. 
    
    The Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladed newspapers quoted committee
    member Bertil Fiskesjo as confirming that Nilsson had decided to quit
    as judicial ombudsman. Fiskesjo and other committee members were
    unavaiable for comment, but a parliamentary spokeswoman said the
    committee had not received a letter from Nilsson. 
    
    A former chief justice of the Court of Appeals, Nilsson is accused by
    government auditors of traveling to Portugal at public expense last
    November. Other charges against him include improperly dismissing a
    complaint against a public office of which his brother is a director,
    and submitting expense account reports up to a year late. 
    
    Nilsson has denied any wrongdoing, but has admitted to sloppy
    bookkeeping. He said in a recent radio interview that the campaign
    against him gave him new insight into the complaints of official
    harassment that he used to hear as a judge. He maintained his trip to
    Portugal was at the invitation of his Portugese counterpart. But Lisbon
    ombudsman Luis Silvera denied ever inviting Nilsson to visit in a
    letter published here. 
    
             Received:  24-JUN-1987 06:52