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Fredrik Laurin (born 4 March 1964) is a Swedish journalist and special projects editor at Swedish Public Television, SVT.
Fredrik Laurin has been working as a journalist since 1989. He's currently Special projects Editor contributing to Sweden's main investigative programme "Uppdrag granskning"[1] (Mission Investigate) and the investigative desk at SVT Nyheterna (News department).
During fourteen years from 2000 he was part of a team, "Trojkan" with Sven Bergman and Joachim Dyfvermark.[2][3] and was since 2006 working with them as an investigative reporter/producer for "Uppdrag granskning" at Swedish Television.
Before that as investigative researcher/reporter/producer for the current affairs show "Kalla Fakta" ("Cold Facts") Swedish National TV4 and earlier at the Swedish News Agency TT, the Current Affairs Show "Striptease" on Swedish Television, SVT, and the media newspaper "Resumé".
In 2014, Fredrik Laurin took over as head of the investigative team at Swedish Radio, SR Ekot,[4] but was 1,5 years later headhunted back to SVT as Special Projects Editor.
He lectures on investigative journalism techniques in courses organized, among others, by the Swedish Investigative Reporters and Editors "Grävande Journalister", the Global Investigative Journalism Conferences, GIJC,[5] ARIJ [6] seminars and at the Universities of Stockholm and Gothenburg's School of Journalism.
In 2018: He was editor of Swedish Televisions "Faktakollen"[7] - a fact checking site in 2018- until leaving for a Knight Wallace Fellowship [8] at University of Michigan.
He's a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Reporters, ICIJ,[9] between 2017 and 2022 on the organizations Network committee responsible for selecting new members.
Telecom giant and 5G market leader Ericsson had a lot of business in post Saddam-Iraq. Also under ISIS rule of N Iraq. A whistleblower came forward to ICIJ and shared an internal report on the company's dealings with ISIS. Laurin put together a team of reporters at SVT Uppdrag granskning and thoroughly investigated the findings in the report and reported on the issues uncovered together with colleagues at ICIJ. In February 2022, the story broke and Ericssons stock plunged 30% on the news that the company had dealings with ISIS. A criminal investigation in Sweden followed and several lawsuits have been started. The board of directors at Ericsson subsequently lost a vote of no confidence at the AGM.
When DR in 2021 disclosed that NSA spied on Swedish politicians and defence industry from their base in Amager, Copenhagen they reached out and Laurin and SVT joined in. This breech of loyalty was exposed in a joint investigation [10] with DR who managed to source the top-secret information. Swedish defence minister Peter Hultqvist awkwardly denounced the intrusion in an interview with SVT's Agenda [11]
In November 2019, incredulous statements on Chinese camps in Xinjiang on hidden camera abouth Uighurs "being illiterate" exposed the moral standing of senior management at Huawei Sweden. The segment was aired during SVT's collaboration with ICIJ on Chinacables.[12] In 2022, Laurin was engaged in the follow-up on China Cables a project led by Adrian Zens called "The Xinjiang Police Files".
In 2013, "Trojkan" was the only Swedish journalist to access the Snowden documents and could expose the intimate relations between the eavesdropping agencies Swedish FRA and US NSA. He has been part of several ICIJ projects such as Looting the Seas,[13] Offshoreleaks, Swissleaks,[14] Luxleaks,[15] Panama [16] and Paradisepapers.[17]
"Trojkan" also uncovered in several reports for SVT in 2012 how the daughter of Uzbek dictator Islam Karimov, Gulnara Karimova, was bribed by the Swedish Telecom giant Telia Sonera. Gulnara Karimova was subsequently jailed after admitting to bribery the company paid one of the highest fines ever in history to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.[18]
In April 2012, a one-hour documentary exposed how the company cooperated with oppressive regimes in a business region the company called "Eurasia" that included long-time dictatorships like Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. In September 2012, the first report on how the company also bribed their way to these markets was published, which after several subsequent reports, led to the resignation of the company's CEO Lars Nyberg (2013) and the board. In 2015, Telia Sonera declared that it was selling all its assets in "Eurasia"; and the loss to the biggest owner – the Swedish state – was estimated at 20 BN SEK Dagens Industri. The recipient of Telia Soneras payments for the Uzbek licenses, Gulnara Karimova, was deposed by her father, the long time dictator Islam Karimov because of the international scandal following the publication and after her father's death sentenced for corruption. In 2013, the trio was awarded another "Guldspaden" by Swedish investigative editors and reporters and with a third "Stora journalistpriset" for their reporting on Telia Sonera.
Swedish Television and "Trojkan" have also exposed how a French colonel in charge of joint UN-EU operation Operation Artemis in the Congo in 2003 personally took part in torture of a prisoner in front of Swedish fellow officers. In spite of both Swedish and French military investigations, Colonel Christophe Rastouil was never charged and instead made head of the covert action division (2004–2007) of the DGSE.
In 2005, the team were rewarded with a number of awards, among them awards from the Overseas Press Club of America, RTNDA:s Edward R Murrow award and the Stora Journalistpriset Stora Journalistpriset (Swedish equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize) as well as the Swedish Investigative Reporters and Editors award "Guldspaden" for their reporting[19] on the secret deportation of two Egyptians in what was one of the first operations known as "Extraordinary rendition".
The two men, Ahmed Agiza and Muhammed Al Zery, were taken from Bromma airport in Sweden in December 2001 to Egypt in a covert operation by US agents and handed over to Egyptian security services and were subsequently tortured. The story caused a major uproar in Sweden, drew international attention and was one of the first to shed light on "Extraordinary Rendition". The plane uncovered in the report as the one used in the rendition was a US registered Gulfstream V with the registration number N379P.[20][21] It was found by the reporters, and their partners in the reporting like UK-reporter Stephen Grey.[22] to be part of a much larger fleet of planes used for rendition operations.[23]
Fredrik Laurin and his colleagues also received several awards, among them a second "Stora Journalistpriset", for their 2007 report[24] on the bribery in the sale of the Swedish jet-fighter Gripen to the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Africa.
In September 2008, they received the ICIJ Daniel Perl award[25] for their 2006 report in National TV4[26] "The Illegal Cod" on the illegal fishing in the Barents Sea.[27] and in November 2009 were appointed Environmental journalist of the year[28] for "Pink Gold" on the (un-)sustainable farming of salmon.
In August 2006, Fredrik Laurin and Joachim Dyfvermark were awarded the Norwegian "Breiflabb-price" for the reports "The Illegal Cod". The price is given to journalists who in their professional work has contributed to a positive development of the fishing industry.
In addition, the trio was in 2003 awarded the Swedish Investigative Journalists Price of Honour together with Fredrik Lundberg for a story uncovering a huge corruption scandal in "Systembolaget" (the Swedish State Monopoly on Alcohol). Fredrik Laurin was together with Leif Holmkvist awarded the Swedish Investigative Reporters and Editors award "Guldspaden" 2000, for the revelation of bribes in the Swedish campaign for the summer Olympic Games 2004.
MIJ JMG University of Gothenburg
