Less than two months after he started serving his sentence, Søgaard has been transferred to a new institution.
–
It happens after he has been in a quarrel about a prison warden’s religion and the use of teletext, among other things, according to the Swedish newspaper Expressen.
They write that the Norwegian 54-year-old with a pastoral background has now moved from the prison Svartsjö – which has the mildest type of security measures in Sweden – to Täby, which has security level 2 (of three).
Søgaard was convicted in June 2021 to one year and eight months imprisonment for tax evasion and bookkeeping violations.
The verdict fell in the Court of Appeal, which corresponds to the Court of Appeal in Norway. Søgaard appealed to the Supreme Court, however the appeal was rejected.
He started serving his sentence on November 17.
Expressen writes that Søgaard received five warnings prior to the transfer.
The newspaper refers to journals from the prison, where several cases of what is said to have been trouble with Søgaard are listed.
On December 14, he is said to have spoken negatively about the prison chief’s religion, and that he had no Christian background. According to the journal, Søgaard does not admit this.
According to Aftonbladet Søgaard is said to have had “an informative conversation” with two of the prison staff, where he is said to have raised all his concerns about the prison stay. There he must have pointed out, in connection with his criticism, that it was at least an “interesting coincidence” that the boss was a Muslim.
The Prison and Probation Service must have prepared a report on inappropriate behavior as a result of the interview. In a later interrogation, Søgaard is said to have expressed shock over the report, and that he had difficulty remembering that a conversation took place that evening.
risk
On 17 December, according to the records Expressen refers to, he was discovered outside the institution’s area, and it was investigated whether there was an escape attempt. However, he must have returned to the cell without rioting, and the Swedish Prison and Probation Service must then have decided that it complied with a warning to follow the rules.
At Christmas, it was reported that Søgaard was involved in a “violent situation”. Søgaard is said to have explained that he wanted to watch teletext, while a fellow prisoner wanted to watch something else and was therefore upset. The fellow prisoner is said to have threatened violence, after which Søgaard is said to have taken a self-defense position.
The Prison and Probation Service should not have distrusted Søgaard in the latter episode, but should still have decided to transfer the Norwegian after five warnings and suspicion of nine violations.
Expressen refers to a document on the transfer of Søgaard, which states:
«After an overall assessment of what has emerged about Runar Søgaard’s bad behavior, it is considered that there is a risk of further bad behavior and he must therefore be placed in an institution with security level 2 in order for order and security to be maintained. The Täby institution is considered to be a proper institution with appropriate security and employment. “
Søgaard was first convicted in a Swedish district court in 2019, for several cases of serious bookkeeping offenses and tax offenses.
The district court then ruled that Søgaard had not booked income of several million. At the same time, he was acquitted of forgery.
According to the indictment, which came in 2017, Søgaard and a relative have failed to book more than ten million Swedish kroner in the financial years 2013–2016 – as well as income of around 390,000 kroner in parts of the period. In addition, the two defendants have not reported over 950,000 Swedish kroner to the tax authorities in the same period.
Søgaard has according to Expressen earlier stated that he is not the actual owner of the company, and that he has thus not been responsible for the accounting.
In 2015, Søgaard was also sentenced to prison for financial crime. He was sentenced to two months in prison and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Søgaard lives in Sweden. He became famous when he married the Swedish artist Carola Häggkvist. They separated in 2000.
–
