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Alfred de Tavares in Stockholm
Sweden cannot provide any more information to India on the $1.3 billion Bofors gun deal nor extradite any citizen accused in the kickbacks scandal, a Swedish foreign ministry official said.
"There is nothing more that the Swedish government can provide Indian authorities investigating alleged criminality in the Bofors howitzer deal of 1986," the official told the Indo-Asian News Service.
"We have repeatedly and categorically informed the Indian authorities that every available evidence material in our possession regarding the Bofors deal has been officially handed over to the relevant authorities in India. They know as much as we ever did and, quite possibly, much more than we ever did," continued the official.
Huge kickbacks were reported in the 1986 gun deal under which India bought 410 howitzers from Swedish arms manufacturer Bofors. The Central Bureau of Investigation is probing the case in which Martin Ardbo, former Bofors chief executive, also stands accused.
"I do not know about the official attitude of the Indian officials dealing with this matter. However, from Indian news reports it would appear that what they tell the Indian public is that it may be possible to extradite people accused in the case from Sweden.
"Let me make it yet again clear that such is not the case. Sweden, under no circumstances, ever extradites any citizen to another country, whatever the crime he/she may be charged with. Please take that as final," the official stated.
Asked about reports from Delhi that the CBI had requested the Swedish authorities to interrogate Ardbo on the matter, the official said: "That may or may not be the case. But officially no such formal request exists."
"And there is no provision in our legal system to subject any citizen to such interrogation. That would require India to indict the individual or individuals in question in a Swedish court of law. That has never been resorted to by India."
Sources say Ardbo, who is reportedly ailing, will remain beyond interrogation. Although the exact nature of his malady has not been disclosed, it has been made clear to authorities that his doctors will not allow any interview or interrogation.
Confirming this, the Swedish daily Expressen's journalist, Niklas Svensson, told IANS: "Martin Ardbo is out of bounds. I have made every possible effort to see him, but have been firmly refused on medical grounds." Svensson has been covering the case for quite some time.
Swedish justice ministry spokesman Bjorn Lind was more diplomatic. "There have been several such requests received by our ministry over the last 10 years," Lind told IANS.
"However, none of them have been formal as per the required legal norms. The last such informal request we received was delivered personally by an official of the Indian CBI in May 2001. It has been duly filed and will be dealt with in due course."
He would not divulge the subject matter of the request.
Cecilia Berg, of the same ministry, confirmed that the request had been received and passed over to Public Prosecutor Thomas Lindstrand. His secretary told IANS: "Thomas Lindstrand is away in Australia, due back later in September. To date, to the best of my knowledge, no progress has been made in the matter."
Indo-Asian News Service
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