Swedish appeals court adds second rape conviction for man in Nobel Prize scandal

Husband of former Swedish Academy board member sees jail sentence extended

Frenchman Jean-Claude Arnault arrives at appeal court (AP)

A man with ties to the Swedish Academy that awards the Nobel Prize in Literature has been convicted of a second rape at an appeals court.

Jean-Claude Arnault lost his appeal to have his first rape conviction and a two-year prison sentence reversed at the Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm on Monday.

And the court extended Arnault’s sentence to two years and six months after finding him guilt of raping the same woman twice.

In October this year, the 72-year-old Frenchman, who is married to a former member of the Swedish Academy board, was found guilty of raping a woman in October 2011.

He was originally acquitted of a second rape after the woman said she was asleep at the time and the lower Stockholm District Court said her account wasn’t reliable.

But the appeals court made a different assessment, stating it was “beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused was guilty of rape” in the second case, which took place three months after the first in December 2011.

The court said the woman’s deposition “gave a credible impression”, adding her account “was strongly supported by those of several witnesses” who was found to be “reliable and sufficient” for a conviction.

The court also said it had taken into consideration Arnault’s “relatively high age” and “the unusually long time from the offence committed to the prosecution” in determining his sentence.

The case against Arnault, the husband of Katarina Frostenson, has rocked the prestigious Swedish Academy.

The sexual abuse scandal led eight members to either leave or distance themselves from the secretive body’s 18-member board.

Ms Frostenson, a poet, resigned in April amid public feuding by board members over the charges against her husband.

The academy announced in May that no Nobel literature award would be awarded this year, postponing the next prize until 2019.

Arnault is also suspected of leaking the name of Nobel Prize in Literature winners – allegedly seven times, starting in 1996.

Additional reporting by agencies