Swedish government expected to pass amended bugging law (Roundup)

Jun 18, 2008, 14:18 GMT

Stockholm - After making some last-minute changes, Sweden's populist government was expected Wednesday to secure a parliamentary majority in favour of a comprehensive new bugging law.

The new law permits the wide-ranging monitoring of mail and internet traffic inside and outside Sweden's borders and the tapping of international telephone calls to discover 'dangers from abroad' more quickly.

It appeared earlier that the draft law would not be debated in parliament Wednesday because of opposition from within the ruling four-party coalition, Swedish sources said.

When it became apparent that the vote would fail in parliament, government representatives pledged to build in more protection for personal privacy.

The Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors from Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's conservative government immediately proposed amendments to the law which included the supervision of the law by the Swedish Data Inspection Board as well as a new data protection authority.

Reinfeldt has said that the amendments to the law clearly improved personal data protection and the government is expected to secure a majority when the vote takes place later Wednesday or on Thursday.

The opposition Social Democrats are vehemently opposed to the law that proposes to allow the military National Defence Radio Establishment (FRA) to monitor Swedes' private internet usage as well as content from e-mails, phone calls and text messages.

The legislation would require all telecom operators in Sweden to bring their systems into line with FRA's surveillance system.

There has been widespread protest against the law from citizens rights' groups who claim that it is a violation of civil liberties.