Suspicion of animal cruelty in the poaching mess in Gällivare

It is the newspaper NSD that reports that the police, when emptying a mobile phone, found a film which is said to show one of the suspects "riding" a shot, but still alive moose, while giving the camera a thumbs up.

Prosecutor and preliminary investigation leader Joseph Ricken confirms that suspicions of animal cruelty are now directed at one of the two suspects in the poaching spree.

- They have handled animals that have been pushed but not euthanized, says Joseph Ricken to SVT Norrbotten.

SVT has previously told about the investigation into what is believed to be extensive poaching in the southern parts of Gällivare municipality. Two men are suspected of serious poaching, after shot moose were found on a farm.

The police have also identified around 20 slaughterhouses that may have been used for illegal hunting in the area.

The newly added suspicions of animal cruelty are directed at the younger of the two men.

- My client denies any wrongdoing. If it is the film we believe, the defense's opinion is that the film does not show any animal cruelty, says the man's defense lawyer Magnus Müchler.