A Swedish Commander has been charged for an incident involving naked soldiers in 2004. According to reports in The Local, Lars-Olof Corneliusson, who once was in charge of a Stockholm-based Swedish amphibious military unit, stands accused of covering up an incident in which newly conscripted soldiers completed military activities without any clothes on.
According to the Dagens Nyheter (DN) newspaper, naked soldiers from the Vaxholm-based Amf 1 amphibious unit were filmed firing shoulder-mounted artillery cannons. In an effort to cover up the incident, Corneliusson instructed the leader of the exercise to destroy the film.
In May 2006, the film was shown to Uppdrag Granskning, an investigative news programme by Svergies Television, resulting in a significant amount of discussion and controversy. In particular, the film highlighted a number of safety and security concerns about the unit, as the soldiers in the exercise wore only helmets for protection.
Not only did Corneliusson request that the film be destroyed, he also failed to report the shooting as a workplace incident, according to the newspaper. The incident was investigated by Commander Christer Olofsson, who criticized the unit’s military leadership for their inadequate response.
Approximately a week after the naked shooting, a boating accident took place in which two conscripts on a combat patrol boat died near the island of Sollenkroka. As a result, Corneliusson currently faces charges for workplace crimes for that incident and is expecting judgement on the case at the end of this month.