Marchingontogether
TK Veteran
A petition asking to improve the prison conditions of Gottfrid Svartholm, one of The Pirate Bay founders, amassed 106,000 signatures and has been delivered to the Danish government a few days ago. The Danish Pirate Party even hopes that the petition may even prompt the total release of Svartholm, and yesterday handed the paper to the local Minister of Justice.
Back in 2013, Gottfrid Svartholm was extradited to Denmark to stand officially accused of hacking into machines that belong to some IT company called CSC. At the same time, everyone understands that the real reason for his conviction is The Pirate Bay.
From the very beginning, the nature of his detention has been highly controversial thanks to his reputation as a hacker. Gottfrid was placed in solitary confinement, his interaction with other inmates and access to books were restricted as well. The authorities didn’t allow any magazines sent in from outside either. Such conditions of Svartholm’s detentions prompted the creation of a petition, which gathered momentum hitting 100,000 signatures. Gottfrid’s mother claimed that the petition had put pressure on the authorities and forced them to ease both book restrictions and interactions with other inmates.
A few days ago, the petition was delivered to the Danish government by the Danish Pirate Party, which printed out the online petition onto 2,600 sheets of paper and presented it to the minister in a box covered in pirate wrapping paper.
Industry observers believe that Gottfrid is in solitary confinement for no reason. Indeed, it is weird that the computer hacker, who hasn’t done anything special, is being treated worse than a serial killer. Perhaps, his adverse conditions resulted from the authorities’ lack of experience to deal with someone with the Swede’s capabilities. They just don’t fully understand what he can do, and whether he’s able to get data in and out of jail.
Despite The Pirate Bay’s founder having been held in Denmark for over 5 months now, the investigation against Gottfrid is still underway with no end in sight. Until that end, he is being allowed only 1 hour a day outside and one controlled visit with his mother. The latter travels from Sweden to Denmark each week to visit Gottfrid. This will continue at least till September, when the trial is scheduled, and TPB supporters hope that their signatures under the petition will ease his conditions before then.
Back in 2013, Gottfrid Svartholm was extradited to Denmark to stand officially accused of hacking into machines that belong to some IT company called CSC. At the same time, everyone understands that the real reason for his conviction is The Pirate Bay.
From the very beginning, the nature of his detention has been highly controversial thanks to his reputation as a hacker. Gottfrid was placed in solitary confinement, his interaction with other inmates and access to books were restricted as well. The authorities didn’t allow any magazines sent in from outside either. Such conditions of Svartholm’s detentions prompted the creation of a petition, which gathered momentum hitting 100,000 signatures. Gottfrid’s mother claimed that the petition had put pressure on the authorities and forced them to ease both book restrictions and interactions with other inmates.
A few days ago, the petition was delivered to the Danish government by the Danish Pirate Party, which printed out the online petition onto 2,600 sheets of paper and presented it to the minister in a box covered in pirate wrapping paper.
Industry observers believe that Gottfrid is in solitary confinement for no reason. Indeed, it is weird that the computer hacker, who hasn’t done anything special, is being treated worse than a serial killer. Perhaps, his adverse conditions resulted from the authorities’ lack of experience to deal with someone with the Swede’s capabilities. They just don’t fully understand what he can do, and whether he’s able to get data in and out of jail.
Despite The Pirate Bay’s founder having been held in Denmark for over 5 months now, the investigation against Gottfrid is still underway with no end in sight. Until that end, he is being allowed only 1 hour a day outside and one controlled visit with his mother. The latter travels from Sweden to Denmark each week to visit Gottfrid. This will continue at least till September, when the trial is scheduled, and TPB supporters hope that their signatures under the petition will ease his conditions before then.