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2010-12-09 10:52:48
By Pascale Harter BBC News, Sweden
Sweden's Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel personify the country's reputation
for wealth, beauty and equality
Anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International has consistently ranked
Sweden as one of the best countries in the world in which to do business.
It's a perception Swedes share. And they're very much attached to it.
Walking down the sparkling clean streets of the capital, Stockholm, I stopped
Swedes on the street to ask them. "Yes," they said, "there is a Swedish way of
doing things: discuss, agree, do good."
"We see ourselves as a model for other countries," one woman told me.
At the anti-corruption unit in central Stockholm, chief prosecutor, Gunnar
Stetler said the phone rang frequently.
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global differences. Over the next few months, BBC News correspondents will be
exploring eight key themes that illustrate the divisions in our extreme world.
Mostly, he said, it was people saying that their neighbours had built a wall or
painted the house green and complaining that planning permission must have been
obtained by corrupt means.
Hardly the stuff of crime novels.
"It's not that we are better than you," said Mr Stetler, "but we are more
transparent, and that makes it harder to be corrupt."
He then offered to show me his record of expenses, because in Sweden anyone has
the right to check a public official's expense claims.
But our trip for the Extreme World series, looking at the extreme lack of
corruption in Sweden, coincided with a national debate over whether this image
is really true.
The news headlines were dominated by a scandal in Gothenburg. Police were
investigating allegations that local government officials had accepted bribes
from a major construction company.
Swedes were shocked at the possibility, and editorials in the popular papers
were asking whether Sweden was as clean as it thought it was.
'Dark corners'
Henning Mankell, the writer behind the hit Swedish detective series Wallander,
says Sweden is a "very decent country" but he believes there has long been a
myth that it is perfect.
He says that in his books, which examine the uneasy aspects of Swedish society,
he aims to be part of "Sweden's conscience".
Start Quote
If people don't think they'll be investigated, they'll probably take the chance
to be a little bit corrupt
End Quote Gunnar Stetler Stockholm anti-corruption unit
"What I try to do is maybe give a more realistic view of Sweden Sometimes it's
needed to take a torch and look into the dark corners."
Mr Mankell says Swedes feel betrayed by the scandal in Gothenburg, and are
asking whether this transparency made them complacent. Do they recognise
corruption when they see it?
On a bright summer's day, Princess Victoria married her personal fitness
trainer at her local church, in central Stockholm. A huge crowd turned out to
cheer.
The royal couple personify Sweden's reputation for wealth, beauty and equality.
But the honeymoon was less popular. A Swedish business tycoon flew the royal
couple on a private jet to a luxury yacht.
Potential risk?
Peter Wolordorski, political editor of Sweden's daily Dagens Nyheter newspaper,
says public figures should not be indebted to private business.
He believes that it might be helpful for the billionaire, who owns the world's
largest language training firm, to have the royal family open doors.
Five Least Corrupt countries
Source: Transparency International corruption perceptions index 2010
"There is a potential risk," says Mr Wolordorski, "that the royal family repays
a favour to a man like that."
The royal family said the trip was private, and a wedding gift from a family
friend.
Mr Stetler looked into opening an investigation into the honeymoon gift, but
decided the Swedish constitution put the royal family beyond the country's
anti-corruption laws.
The unit did launch an investigation into another national icon though - Saab.
The company does not just make cars, it makes Gripen fighter jets, precision
military hardware, and a source of national pride.
Five Most Corrupt countries
Source: Transparency International corruption perceptions index 2010
A television advert calls the Gripens "the wings of a nation".
The anti-corruption unit investigated allegations that Saab used a middleman to
bribe the South African government to secure a lucrative order.
Saab refused an interview but said in a statement that it did not consider that
it had committed any illegal acts.
"For us at Saab, it is extremely important that we conduct our business with
high ethical standards and we act with zero tolerance for bribery.
"The preliminary investigation was conducted over several years, and Saab
assisted at all times by openly sharing the information requested."
The prosecutor dropped the case for lack of evidence.
'A bit naive'
But Nils Resare, who has written a book on the Gripen affair, says "it doesn't
really matter if you ask Saab about it. You have to have an independent
prosecutor do a serious investigation. After that, then we can tell if they are
guilty or not."
In his opinion, the prosecutor dropped the case because he couldn't get enough
staff to work on finding evidence. "And this," says Mr Resare, "is probably the
biggest corruption scandal in the history of Sweden."
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development also criticised
Sweden for not putting enough staff on the case.
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Sweden has enjoyed a clean reputation - but is it deserved?
Mr Stetler took up his post after the case was dropped. But he says that his
unit could still use more staff. He has to rely on other departments lending
him police officers.
He says the general lack of corruption in Sweden has made his fellow countrymen
"bit naive".
"If you're not aware, you don't allocate resources and you don't understand the
importance of fighting corruption.
"And if people don't think they'll be investigated, they'll probably take the
chance to be a little bit corrupt," he warns.
Mr Mankell says he does not believe Sweden is becoming more corrupt, but he
thinks Swedes have woken up to what corruption there is in Sweden.
"Now we have the possibility to stop it," he says.
And although Sweden is not as squeaky clean as we, or Swedes, thought, people
here do seem committed to doing something about it.
We were invited to Stockholm's business district to attend a corporate workshop
on how to avoid bribery.
There were leaflets on what could constitute a bribe. Businessmen and women
took notes in the auditorium.
Main speaker Helen Waxburg told us it was not a big problem in Swedish
business. Why hold the workshop then? It's about prevention, not cure, she
said.
"We want Swedish business to be best in class."