> the Swedish authorities and judges know they're being watched closely by an international community

Do the Swedish authorities particularly care if a group of people who they consider to be criminals and pirates don't like them? I doubt it.

They are politicians, and politicians are at the mercy of their voters which happen to consist of a large chunk of filesharers.

When the Pirate Bay's servers were raided a few years ago it turned into a political scandal, and (if I remember correctly) a minister was fired.

Also, The Pirate Party was very close to getting elected into parlaiment at the last election in Sweden.

If I was a Swedish politician or authority I would definitely care.

You'd think they would give a little more weight to the group, considering that the users of TPB are a good chunk of the internet-using population of the world.

There are even more people sympathetic to pot smokers facing jail time. But authorities don't seem inclined to soften the sentences.

Courts really shouldn't worry about public reaction. That's the job of lawmakers.