The arrest of a Wagner dissident in Sweden

Medvedev is said to have worked with a Russian mercenary organization in Ukraine before fleeing Russia to Norway and seeking asylum in January.

Medvedev is said to have taken a bus from Norway to Sweden because he was told cigarettes were half the price there. But when he didn’t take the bus to Norway, Swedish police arrested him, writes Gulagu.net cable.

Call from prison

The Wagner Group has been accused of a wide range of war crimes during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For the Norwegian authorities, Medvedev’s asylum application has become a diplomatic hot potato.

– On the evening of April 6, Medvedev called Gulagu.net’s hotline from Gothenburg’s immigration prison and said he had gone from Oslo to Gothenburg two days earlier to buy cheap cigarettes, according to Gulagu.net. Express.

The 26-year-old is said to have not boarded the bus on his way back to Norway, and is said to have been arrested by police while walking along the way. Since he does not have a residence permit in Sweden, he has been sent into the custody of the Swedish immigration authorities.

– There is no information that I know of. I don’t have the opportunity to investigate it now or the chance to confirm it if that’s the case, the agency’s director of communications, Linda Widmark, tells Expressen.

Appology

According to Gulagu.net, Medvedev now regrets the trip. He is also said to have said that he was not aware that he was not allowed to leave Norway while his asylum application was being processed.

– Andrei Medvedev apologized, hoping to get the opportunity to return to Norway, to the house where he lives. He is grateful to Norway for the reception, help and support, and promises not to do anything similar in the future, writes Gulagu.net.

The human rights organization is also asking Norway to show its understanding of the 26-year-old’s situation and refers to a traumatic childhood.

– once again. We are not lawyers for this young man. But he voluntarily left the illegal armed group Wagner, refusing to participate in the war and exposing the inhuman methods of Yevgeny Prigozhin and his co-conspirators, writes Gulagu.net.