Tony Stigsson

After being commissioned as an officer, Stigsson serve in Skaraborg Regiment.[7] From 1992 to 1993, Stigsson served as acting commander of the Swedish Battalion in Lebanon, part of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).[5] In 1995 he was appointed commanding officer of the Skaraborg Brigade (PB 9) (later renamed) Skaraborg Regiment and Skaraborg Brigade (MekB 9).[5] Stigsson left the position in 1999 and was appointed head of the Training Department in the General Training and Management Directorate (Grundorganisationsledningen) at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters in Stockholm. A year later he was appointed head of the Joint Operations Command (Operationsledningen, OPL).

Stigsson served as the Viking 03 Exercise Director in 2003.[8] Stigsson served as acting head of the Joint Forces Command (OPIL) at the Swedish Armed Forces Headquarters until 1 September 2004 when he took in charge of the command.[9] Stigsson has also served as Sweden's representative in the Challenges of Peace Operations, an international association for the exchange of experience in peace operations.[5]

According to the TV4 Kalla Fakta documentary, major general Stigsson took serious security risks long before he was arrested for assaulting his wife. When searched by police, he was found to be in possession of very explicit pornographic material, which, it is alleged, made him vulnerable to blackmail. The TV4 investigation contends that a combination of the senior officer's sexual behaviour and his handling of extremely sensitive military documents constituted a major national security risk. When Stigsson was arrested in March 2005, police found explicit, and very deviant, pornographic material in the major general's uniform pockets as well as in his places of residence. The risk of blackmail was further increased by the fact that Stigsson made contact with unknown persons on the Internet, with the intention of meeting them for group sex at swingers' clubs. According to TV4, whose reporters have had access to the full police investigation, the major general was aware of the risks. In an e-mail sent to a woman from his work address, he writes that he wanted to "test the limits", knowing that he was "always running the risk of finding myself in a blackmail situation".

In June 2006, chief prosecutor Ulf Forsberg in Uppsala decided not to press charges with Stigsson over negligence with regard to secret documents, a crime that is considered a threat to national security. Police found 300 documents in Stigsson's home, out of which 70 were classified, but Forsberg was not able to prove that any of the information contained in the documents had been disclosed to a third party. Among the copied documents found scattered around various locations in Stigsson's house were some of the most secret and sensitive in the military's possession. These included, for instance, notes and plans of secret mountain hideouts from which Sweden would be governed in wartime, as well as documents concerning the outcome of successful intelligence operations.[10] Supreme Commander Håkan Syrén has requested Stigsson's dismissal. In May 2008, the National Disciplinary Offence Board reached the same decision; Stigsson has appealed it. Since 2005 he has had no active involvement with the military. Syrén, previously head of the Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service, also pointed out that the Swedish Armed Forces have recently introduced more rigorous background checks for those seeking high-level military posts.

In May 2008, Stigsson was sentenced to three months in prison and was fired from the Swedish Armed Forces.[4]