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Bilyana Martinovsky Released

'They humiliated me.'


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STOCKHOLM (Radsoft) — Academic researcher Bilyana Martinovsky was arrested on her arrival in Stockholm yesterday evening. The police finally let her go at one o'clock in the morning.

Swedish news site Samhällsnytt reported on the incident.


Bilyana is a former affiliated lecturer at the University of Stockholm. At least ten policemen were involved. She was finally released after midnight. She was still dressed for the warmer climate in Egypt where she'd been. She was left on the street without her phone and with no way to ring for help.

Bilyana was also stopped by the border police on her way to Egypt. She was not given an explanation. She rang a lawyer who told her not to say a word until he'd arrived. But she was released after 45 minutes, was never told why she'd been detained, and she could continue with her trip to Egypt.

But the police were waiting for her when she returned to Sweden again last night.

Treated Like a Terrorist

'They apprehended me like a terrorist', says Bilyana. 'I don't think they would have let me go if you journalists hadn't started ringing and asking questions.'

'They frisked me, my breasts, like I was a corpse. They were very aggressive, especially the one called Markus. He was super-aggressive.'

From the Beginning?

'So when we arrive back in Sweden from Egypt, they stop me at passport control. They tell me I'll have to wait. Two armed policemen arrive. Then a few more. So while we're waiting there, hoping to understand what's going on, we've got five policemen around us.'

'My lawyer said I was to record everything, so my partner started recording. They saw what he was doing and they yelled at him that he's not allowed to record anything. They told him that he'd committed a crime. For he was in passport control, and that's a protected area. So my partner had to stop recording, delete the recording, and empty his Trash folder.'

Let's Be Practical!

'OK now we're going to try to be practical here', the police told Bilyana. 'They put us on a bench. We ring the lawyer while we're waiting. A police van arrives and a large number of policemen come in. I think it was perhaps five, all told.'

'Then some of the early policemen come back. So there were about eight of them at that point. And then they say 'now you accompany us'. My partner says he wants to come along, as a witness.'

'Two policemen come up to me, drag me away from my partner, and take my suitcases.'

'They were so aggressive! I didn't resist them, but I wanted my partner with me. His legs aren't good. He has difficulties standing. So he stayed on the bench and they put me in one of their vehicles. And I was frisked - my breasts, between my breasts, all over my body. You're going to be interrogated, they kept telling me.'

'But didn't you know that you'd been summoned to an interrogation before that', asked the reporter.

'No, no idea', Bilyana told the reporter. The police had evidently sent a summons to her at her registered address.

'But I've been away. I've been elsewhere. I haven't checked the post at all. There was a woman, back in April or May, who rang me and spoke in English and told me about some hearing. But I didn't know who she was, why she spoke in English, what 'hearing' she was talking about, or that she perhaps was with the police.'

'They took me to the police station. I didn't know where I was. There were others sitting on that bench, including someone who'd been apprehended for assault.'

'I don't know how long I had to wait there. A few hours. Then I was taken in for interrogation. By then it was after midnight. Two of them came up to me and told me that they first had to take my DNA, by order of the prosecutor. They put a swab in my mouth.'

Kajsa Klein

'They started by asking me if I wanted a lawyer. That's the only time I answered them. Then they said I was there because I was suspected of slander which had caused discomfort for Kajsa Klein who had her peace of mind disrupted, so some kind of slander on Twitter. They gave me a precise date for the 'crime', but I don't remember the date. That's when I finally start to understand what this is all about.'



'I didn't think they could carry on with the interrogation because I'd told them I wanted a lawyer. But they carried on anyway.'

Rubber Gloves

'Did you know you were suspected of this crime, they asked me. Then they asked me if I denied having committed the crime. Then they asked me if I wanted an interpreter, did I understand what they were saying. Then they realise I'm not going to say anything at all. They take me out of the interrogation room and confer with the prosecutor.'

'Then they come out and tell me I'm released. They'd been given orders to confiscate my computer and phone, but I didn't have them with me. They were a bit puzzled. Did I go to Egypt without a phone, they asked. I didn't reply. So I have only a small rucksack, no computer, no phone. But they searched through my rucksack and my purse anyway, using rubber gloves.'

'Then he explains that this is no longer an interrogation, that now I can say whatever I like. And I understood that he was trying to trick me. The only thing I said was that I wanted to be sure my jewelry was still in my rucksack. Then he told me I needn't worry about that, I was already wearing my jewelry.'

On the Boulevard

'I wanted to reach my partner. I asked if I could use a phone there. He got annoyed. He told me I could use a phone in the reception. Then he wished me good luck and left me in the reception area. But the reception closed at 8 PM, and now it was one o'clock in the morning.'

'So there I was, dressed only in my summer clothes for Egypt. I was freezing! And then I understood that he'd tricked me. He was laughing at me. I was alone on the boulevard.'

Background

These two clips should provide all the background needed. The first is from a lecture Bilyana gave on 3 October and the second is from last year.



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