Pirate Bay fugitive Peter Sunde arrested in Sweden

Peter Sunde ran an unsuccessful campaign to win a seat in the European Parliament

The co-founder of notorious piracy listings site The Pirate Bay has been arrested in Sweden after two years on the run.

Peter Sunde, 35, had been sentenced to eight months in prison for violating copyright laws.

He was understood to be living in Germany, and had been on Interpol's Wanted Persons list.

The arrest comes days after Sunde failed to win a seat in the European Parliament elections.

He had been standing for the Finnish arm of the Pirate Party, a political movement which advocates, among other things, reformed copyright law.

The Pirate Bay, which is blocked in the UK, is one of the most-visited websites in the world.

The site does not host pirated content, but instead offers an expansive list of links to where it can be found.

A court ruled in 2013 that the UK's major internet service providers (ISPs) must stop users from accessing the site.

However, the site is still popular among determined users who make use of other tools to get around the ban.

'Burn everything'

Sunde was arrested on Saturday, authorities said, in Skaane, southern Sweden. It followed more than two years of evading authorities after failing to appear at the Swedish jail where he was due to be held.

"We have been looking for him since 2012," said Carolina Ekeus, a spokeswoman for the Swedish National Police Board.

"He was given eight months in jail so he has to serve his sentence."

Sunde was originally sentenced - along with co-founders Carl Lundstroem, Fredrik Neij and Gottfrid Svartholm Warg - in 2009. The group was also fined $3.6m (£2.4m).

Sunde, who used the alias "brokep" online, said at the time: "Even if I had any money I would rather burn everything I own and not even give them the ashes.

The Pirate Bay has been blocked in many countries

"They could have the job of picking them up. That's how much I hate the media industry."

The case has since been through various lengthy appeal processes.

In 2010, a Swedish appeal court increased the fine to $6.95m (£4.1m), but reduced the length of the jail sentences.

The most recent decision, made in May this year, saw the court reject a plea for the ruling to be overturned.

Warg was arrested in Cambodia in 2012 and extradited to face separate charges of hacking in Denmark.

Lundstroem has served his sentence, while Neij is believed to be hiding out in Laos.

It is unclear why Sunde was in Sweden at time of his arrest.

His lawyer Peter Althin told Swedish news agency TT: "Peter fought for file-sharing and in 10 years, I believe it will go without saying that file-sharing for one's own needs will be permitted.

"I still think the judgement was wrong."