Elisabeth Massi Fritz

Elisabeth Massi Fritz (born 24 July 1967) is a Swedish lawyer who has received recognition as counsel for an injured party for female victims of crime.[1][2] She has received the Karin Söder commemoration award.[3] She grew up in Motala in a family characterised as having a strong honor code.[3] Massi Fritz is an advocate against honor culture and honor related crime.[1]

Elisabeth Massi Fritz
Elisabeth Massi Fritz at Fadimedagarna 2014, Berns Salonger, Stockholm, Sweden.
Born
Elisabeth Massi

24 July 1967
Växjö, Kronoberg County, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
OccupationLawyer
Known forTrial lawyer, women's rights advocacy
Websitewww.advokatfritz.com

Career

In 1999 the Kurdish woman Pela Atroshi was killed by her father and her uncles because she had decided to not live by the strict norms of her family, one of the earliest widely publicised trials involving honor killings in Sweden. Massi Fritz was the counsel for the younger sister of Pela Atroshi.[1][4]

In 2007, she was counsel for the victim in a noted case involving a plastic surgeon having raped his patient during surgery while she was sedated.[5]

In 2015, she was noted for asking a rape suspect about his underwear during a trial, to demonstrate the absurdity of asking rape victims similar questions.[6]

In 2017, she was counsel for several of the accusers in the metoo campaign.[7]

In 2017 she was counself for a gang rape victim who had been raped by two 19-year-old and one 20-year-old men. All received prison sentences and while the public prosecutor had demanded two of the men be deported to their home countries, the district court ruled not to deport them. The neglection to deport was appealed by Massi Fritz.[8]

In 2017, she was counsel for the plaintiff in a noted case of gang rape involving about a dozen men of in the Stockholm suburb of Fittja, of which five stood trial.[9][10] The accused were acquitted due to the poor handling of crime scene investigation by the Swedish Police Authority, this in turn led to a protest against the Police of Sweden where 80 000 signatures were collected.[11]

In 2019 Elisabeth Massi Fritz was representing Sofia Wilén in an 9 year old preliminary investigation involving WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange. While referring to the third prosecutor to take up the investigation (Eva-Marie Persson), Massi Fritz said;

"She is going to be forced to take steps quickly to ensure that we have time to get a potential criminal charge in this case."[12]

The 12 witness interviews (protocols)recorded in the 2010 police investigation including one with Assange were leaked to the Swedish press within days and remain on public record.[13] Assange was vilified in the media for over nine years as Swedish prosecutors opened and closed the preliminary investigation without filing charges. The statute of limitation expired in 2020. No charges were laid.

In 2019, the USA State Department filed extradition proceedings relying on a Virginia based grand jury indictment.[14]

References
  1. ""Män får aldrig frågor om sina underkläder"". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  2. "Elisabeth Massi Fritz kritik mot polisen". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  3. Radio, Sveriges. "Elisabeth Massi Fritz – stjärnadvokaten som vägrar hjälpa de misstänkta - Söndagsintervjun". sverigesradio.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  4. "Hård kritik mot att Pelas mördare släppts fri". Aftonbladet. Retrieved 2017-11-07.
  5. "Elisabeth Massi Fritz om malmöläkar-målet - Fokus". Fokus (in Swedish). 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2017-11-09.
  6. "Lawyer turns tables on absurd argument women's underwear is to blame for rape". The Independent. 2015-11-11. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  7. "Advokat Elisabeth Massi Fritz kopplas in i komikerfallet". Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  8. "Tre män döms för gruppvåldtäkt • "Seger för rättvisan"". www.expressen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-06-26.
  9. "Five men acquitted in Fittja rape case". 2017-12-19. Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  10. Nyheter, SVT. "Massi Fritz: "Min klient känner sig rättslös"". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-12-20.
  11. "Folkligt raseri mot våldtäktsdomen". Göteborgs-Posten (in Swedish). Retrieved 2017-12-23.
  12. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/swedish-lawyer-urges-prosecutor-to-move-quickly-in-assange-investigation
  13. http://www.nnn.se/nordic/assange/docs/protocol.pdf
  14. https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1153486/download
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