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Swedish Academy head quits Nobel body over sexual misconduct probe of... another person

llien

Member
That another person is artistic director of a literary club in Stockholm and has close ties with Swedish Academy.
18 alleged victims told DN's reporter that he has sexually assaulted and harassed them over many years. Events taken place between 1996 and 2017. Allegations include:

  • "pussy grabbing" author Gabriella Håkansson at a party in 2007, her boyfriend witnessed what happened. She slapped him and left the room.
  • Another author, Elise Karlsson, described how the "artistic director" came up ot her t a a p arti and insinuated that she should be interested him, as he could help her in career.
  • A year later he allegedly touched her bum at another party.
  • Several other women describe similar occasions, where the artistic director has assaulted them at parties or events, in front of other people. One woman says a similar incident happened at the Nobel Prize banquet
  • Five other women describe events to which there are no witnesses. They describe the artistic director as aggressive and manipulative. They also describe sexual assaults committed by him
  • ”He asked me to give him a blow job, and first I did it voluntarily. But then he took hold of my head. He kept holding on to me. I couldn’t move, and I was so scared. I didn’t know how to get out of there. It felt like my fear turned him on. When I wanted to end the relationship he never stopped calling me, and he didn’t stop until I changed my number,” one woman describes.
  • ”Suddenly he grabbed my neck. He held me and shoved his dick so far down my throat it felt like I was choking. I panicked. He didn’t let go. In the end I vomited. Then he pushed me to the floor, so my vomit would not end up on his sheets. His movement was so routine, like he had done the same thing a thousand times.”
  • One instance of drunk sex (I was hesitant to include it in this list)
He is the husband of Academy member Katarina Frostenson. and denies the allegations.
Swedish Academy cut funding of his Club and all the ties.
dn.se

Sara Danius, not directly related to the alleged perpetrator, has stepped down after criticism
The organisation has been criticised for its handling of a probe into the alleged sexual misconduct of a man married to one of its members.

After the Academy voted against removing Ms Frostenson last week, three of its members Klas Ostergren, Kjell Espmark and Peter Englund stood down from the 18-person committee in protest, Swedish media reported.

While they cannot technically resign, they can stop participating in the Academy's activities.

"It has already affected the Nobel Prize quite severely and that is quite a big problem," said Sara Danius, as she resigned.
The accused denies all the allegations.
"It was the wish of the Academy that I should leave my role as Permanent Secretary," Ms Danius told reporters on Thursday. "I have made this decision with immediate effect."

None of the sexual misconduct allegations had been reported to the police when the scandal broke last year, but state prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into the incidents.

BBC
 
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OP this is criminal levels of cherry picking.

The head of the Swedish Academy - the prestigious body that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature - has stepped down in the wake of a sexual abuse scandal.

The organisation has been criticised for its handling of a probe into the alleged sexual misconduct of a man married to one of its members.

"It has already affected the Nobel Prize quite severely and that is quite a big problem," said Sara Danius, as she resigned.

The accused denies all the allegations.

"It was the wish of the Academy that I should leave my role as Permanent Secretary," Ms Danius told reporters on Thursday. "I have made this decision with immediate effect."

Last November, inspired by the #MeToo campaign, 18 women made allegations of sexual assault and harassment against Jean-Claude Arnault, the husband of Academy member Katarina Frostenson.

After the Academy voted against removing Ms Frostenson last week, three of its members Klas Ostergren, Kjell Espmark and Peter Englund stood down from the 18-person committee in protest, Swedish media reported.

While they cannot technically resign, they can stop participating in the Academy's activities.

The Nobel body had cut all ties and funding to Mr Arnault, who runs a cultural club in Stockholm, shortly after the allegations came to light.

The Swedish Academy said at the time that it had potentially broken its own rules regulating conflict of interest and appointed a legal firm to investigate its committee members' links with Mr Arnault.

His lawyer told Reuters that he rejected all the claims against him.
"Jean-Claude Arnault rejects all claims of criminal activity and he rejects other allegations that have been made against him," Bjorn Hurtig said in an email.

None of the sexual misconduct allegations had been reported to the police when the scandal broke last year, but state prosecutors opened a preliminary investigation into the incidents.

Last month, they said some parts of their probe had been shelved due to a lack of evidence and because the statute of limitations had passed for some of the allegations.

However, the investigation related to some incidents was continuing, prosecutors confirmed.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-43744199
 
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