On April 17, the group were sentenced to a year in prison and fined approximately $3.6M USD. The trial came under question, however, when it was discovered that the judge in the case was affiliated with the Swedish Copyright Association and the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property. A second judge, Ulrika Ihrfelt, was then brought in to determine whether the original trial judge was biased, and whether a retrial was required.
This second judge has now been removed from the job amid claims that she too was a member of those organizations, reports a Swedish newspaper. Wired captures the bizarre unfolding of the events:
Judge Ulrika Ihrfelt was assigned to investigate whether the four should be granted a retrial based on revelations that the original trial judge is a member of industry copyright-protection groups. But Ihrfelt was removed from the case Wednesday amid allegations that she was a member of the same organizations...
The defendants charged that the Stockholm trial court secretly steered the case to Norstrom. The defendants claim Norstrom was hostile to the defense because of his affiliations with the Swedish Copyright Association and the Swedish Association for the Protection of Industrial Property.