Ikea linked to prisoner labour

SWEDISH retail giant Ikea used political prisoners in East Germany as “slave labour” to make furniture, secret police files unearthed by a German broadcaster appear to show.

Ikea developed strong ties with the communist state in the 1970s, opening a number of manufacturing facilities, one of which, according to Stasi records discovered by a German TV company, used political prisoners to construct sofas.

The factory in Waldheim was next to a prison, and it is claimed the inmates were used as unpaid labour.