Swedish Court Delays Verdict For Man Accused Of Pushing Wife Into Mass Prostitution
Due to the scope of the case and heavy workload, additional time is needed to draft the verdict, the Swedish court said.
Stockholm : A Swedish court has delayed a ruling on a 61-year-old man accused of exploiting his "vulnerable" wife to have sex with scores of men for payment, a court official told AFP Wednesday.
The defendant is accused of creating internet adverts and arranging paid meetings between men who answered and his spouse, who was made to perform sexual acts online to attract more clients.
The case has shocked Sweden and comparisons have been made with France's Gisele Pelicot, whose husband was convicted in 2024 of drugging her and letting scores of men rape her while unconscious.
A ruling was expected on Wednesday but a court official told AFP the verdict had been delayed until June 16.
"Due to the scope of the case and heavy workload, additional time is needed to draft the verdict," the court said in a decision seen by AFP.
The court added that the accused should remain in custody until then.
While Swedish prosecutors have sought a 10-year jail term, the man, who has been in custody since his arrest in October, has denied the most serious charges.
He is formally accused of aggravated pimping and eight rapes committed between August 2022 and October 2025. He has admitted only a minor drug offence.
The proceedings in the northern town of Harnosand were largely conducted behind closed doors.
- 'Vulnerable' wife -
Although selling sex is not illegal in Sweden, buying sex is, and facilitating or profiting from prostitution is also illegal.
The wife, who was described by the prosecution as a victim "in a vulnerable situation", is demanding the equivalent of $120,000 in damages if her husband is found guilty.
Prosecutor Ida Annerstedt said some 120 buyers had been identified and labelled the defendant's alleged actions as "ruthless exploitation".
"I maintain that he has exploited her situation in that she has been under the influence of drugs, she has been under the influence of alcohol, and she has had a serious fear of him," Annerstedt told AFP at the start of the trial, noting that the charges included assaults and threats.
The woman was warned not to anger her husband, because then "the monster would be released," Annerstedt told the court.
"He treated her like a bank card and sold her like merchandise," the woman's lawyer, Silvia Ingolfsdottir, told state broadcaster SVT.
The offences allegedly occurred between August 11, 2022, and October 21, 2025.
The husband denied the charges in court. He argued that while he had been involved in "the plaintiff's business", this role had been partly "administrative," according to his lawyer Martina Michaelsdotter.
jll/phz
AFP 100933 GMT JUN 26
