I have found out with surprise that the prosecutor is opening a preliminary investigation of my thesis project after a notification that the thesis, (”Global political Islam”, contains ”sensitive personal data” according to the Ethics Review Act. Namely, I have written about a large number of leading people in the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood’s front organizations in Sweden, which means that their political and religious affiliation is made clear, which could be ”sensitive personal data” in the sense of the law.
However, I have only used information that has already been published by these people themselves. My assessment – which is shared by my supervisors, the head of the department and many research colleagues – is that if a person is part of a board or in the management of a political or religious organization, and himself announces this membership or board assignment publicly, then this information is no longer considered as ”sensitive”.
My thesis work was also started in 1999, before the law on ethical review existed. It came in 2004, which means that, formally speaking, it would not even need to be ethically tested.
The issue of the Ethics Review Act and its application affects not only my own research but many other researchers. Therefore, I will take the case all the way to the European Court, if necessary.
Sameh Egyptson