Nobel Scandal Continues Following Rape Conviction

Ronn Torossian, CEO, 5WPR

Jean-Claude Arnault, 72, has been convicted of rape. A major cultural figure in , Arnault is at the center of a Swedish sex abuse and financial crimes scandal that has tarnished the academy responsible for awarding the Nobel Prize in Literature. Will this week’s ruling, he is set to serve two years in prison.

Arnault faced two counts of rape for the same woman, with the incidents allegedly taking place in 2011. He was acquitted of the second rape because the victim reported being asleep at the time, leaving the judge ruling her account to be unreliable. Arnault has denied both charges throughout.

The victim’s lawyer, Elisabeth Massi Fritz, has hailed the verdict- reached unanimously between the judge and three jurors- a victory for both her client and the #MeToo movement. “(It was) a big relief for my client, who today believes in justice,” she said. “No rape victims should be silent, no rape victims should feel guilt or shame.”

Arnault’s lawyer has already raised the possibility that Arnault planned to appeal the ruling. “We are obviously disappointed,” Bjorn Hurtig said, “I spoke to him a few minutes ago and his order was to start working on an appeal.” The case began in November last year, when 18 woman came forward with accusations against Arnault, published in a Swedish newspaper. By April, the said an internal investigation had revealed good grounds for the sexual misconduct allegations, alleging that “unacceptable behavior in the form of unwanted intimacy” had taken place at the institution.

The fallout from the Academy’s revelations was swift: amid internal debate over Arnault’s behavior, seven of the prestigious institution’s 18 members were either forced to leave or quit their positions. They included Arnault’s wife, poet Katarina Frostenson, and the first woman to ever lead the academy, Sara Danius.

To many of the Scandinavian public, typically renowned for their pro-gender equality stance, the departure of the women from the upper ranks of the Swedish Academy was seen as just another instance of women taking the fall for one badly behaved man. In addition to the abuse allegations leveled at Arnault, the academy’s reputation has been left in tatters.

Another of the institutions’ former members, Peter Englund, spoke in favor of this week’s verdict. Englund, who was one of the many who quit the organisation in April, said he was “very pleased” that justice was done.

Lars Heikensten, the head of the Nobel Foundation, has warned that the Swedish Academy must swiftly resolve its tarnished image if it has any hope of hosting the Nobel Literature prize in the years to come. The academy has already been forced to announce that no Nobel Literature prize would be awarded for 2018; Heikensten has further hinted that there could no such award in 2019 either.

Ronn Torossian is CEO of 5WPR, a leading PR agency.