The Swedish Supreme Court ruled that a man, E.K., who filmed a rape and broadcasted it live on Facebook committed the crime of aggravated defamation, as opposed to the separate crime of failing to report an ongoing rape. The defendant filmed and "live-streamed" two other men raping a woman (Secrecy D). The Uppsala District Court and the Court of Appeal in Stockholm convicted E.K. of failing to report the rape and of aggravated defamation, but not in aiding in the rape. The Swedish Supreme Court reasoned that because E.K. was initially prosecuted for involvement in the crime, he could not also be prosecuted for failure to report it, as fear of prosecution is a legal defense to a crime of failure to report. The Swedish Supreme Court further examined whether the Swedish Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression was applicable to the broadcast on Facebook, but found that it was not. E.K. was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.
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