REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BEIJING -- The Chinese government has accused a detained Swedish national of operating an unlicensed rights group in China, which "fabricated and distorted" information about the country and organised others to "interfere" in sensitive cases.

Beijing confirmed earlier this month that authorities had detained Peter Dahlin, the 35-year-old co-founder of the Chinese Urgent Action Working Group, on suspicion of endangering state security. The organization worked with Chinese human rights lawyers.

Chinese police and national security authorities said in a statement they had "smashed an illegal organisation that sponsored activities jeopardising China's national security". The statement was released via the official Xinhua news agency late on Tuesday.

Sweden's embassy in Beijing said it continued to work "intensively" on the matter and that its diplomats had visited Dahlin on Saturday.